GORDON Strachan will use the World Cup qualifier in Serbia as a test of whether Scotland's emerging players can handle the pressure of a big tie away from home.
Strachan apologised to the 1300 fans who will travel to the Karadjordje Stadium in Novi Sad but insisted that he was not devaluing the fixture by making changes to his team. Instead the manager hopes to begin laying the foundations of a side and a system that can mount a challenge in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Jordan Rhodes seems likely to start and Barry Bannan and Gary Mackay-Steven are also in contention. Scotland are bottom of Group A, without a win in their five games, and qualification is a lost cause.
"I apologise to any fans who think I'm devaluing the game," said Strachan in Belgrade last night. "But I need to find out now if people can play away from home in a World Cup game and in a big atmosphere. There's no point waiting until one of these big games comes around in the next campaign. I need to find out now if they can deal with the demands that we're making of them."
Rhodes, 23, has three goals from seven appearances but has yet to start a competitive game. "We need to see Jordan. We always think 'Jordan is a goalscorer, so we can stick him on for the final 15 or 20 minutes'. But that's not right for him. When he's at his best he plays with two strikers but that won't always be the case at international level because not that many teams do it. I'm not going to leave him on his own. That was the problem in the first 20 minutes [against Wales] because first Steven Fletcher, then Kenny Miller, were left on their own. That can't happen. He will find it different from the normal way of playing, but he is not going to be a lone front man. I will never play a lone front man."
Strachan was appalled by Scotland's opening half hour in the 2-1 defeat by Wales but the players, and the system he used, will not be jettisoned because of that. "Everybody is getting another chance. There is nobody who played who will be discarded because there are good players there.
"I'm not going to change what I think. I believe Scottish players can beat players and do bits and bobs. We have to give ourselves a platform to do that. I'm not going to just pick a team with someone who is 6ft who can just tackle and fill in holes all over the place. I couldn't do that. There may be occasions when I have to but if we want the game to go forward we've got to be brave enough to do something about it. I'm not talking about being stupid, but brave."
Celtic's Kris Commons has withdrawn from the squad for family reasons while Norwich City's Russell Martin pulled out because of a hamstring injury. Birmingham City's Paul Caddis joined the group in Belgrade last night.
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