RICKY SBRAGIA believes his under-19 squad should be aiming for a perfect start when the Scots get their European Championship qualifying campaign under way this evening.
The youngsters take on Armenia at New Douglas Park, the first of a home triple-header that also features ties against Romania at the Falkirk Stadium on Thursday and Switzerland on Sunday, again in Falkirk. The top two teams from the mini-tournament progress to the elite round to be played early next year.
Sbragia has lost Hearts' Callum Paterson to injury but can still call upon players of the calibre of Celtic's Marcus Fraser, the Rangers pair of Lewis MacLeod and Barrie McKay, Chelsea's Islam Feruz and Matthew Kennedy, who recently moved from Kilmarnock to Everton. Although respectful of the opposition, Sbragia believes his side ought to be looking for maximum points from their first two matches.
"We've looked at the DVDs [of the opposition] and there are no mugs," he said. "I hope that, come Thursday, we've got six points but you just never know. I would have thought Switzerland are one of the top teams. We've watched Armenia and they look decent, a strong team and technically they are good. But I know what I've got [in the squad] and it's just doing it on the day."
Sbragia also has Ryan Fraser at his disposal, the young Aberdeen winger whose stirring performances have won him a raft of plaudits as well as the young player of the month accolade for September. While Fraser is a relatively new face to many Scottish football fans, Sbragia revealed the player first came to his attention around a year ago. "Ryan has done exceptionally well. He's got a lot of pace and is very direct, he's got a good body and some people just like to leave their mark [on him] because he's a young kid.
"He's come into the game and really taken people by surprise but we saw him about a year ago and we tried to bring him in but he had a couple of injuries. What we saw was a player who was really direct, had a low centre of gravity and could cover the ground. Most full-backs tend to have yellow cards [for fouling him].
"There are great expectations for him but, hopefully, people are not expecting too much from him with us and just allow him to bed in as this is just the second time he's been with [the under-19s].
"We've had to be careful with him the last couple of games because he's had a lot of football and we don't want to tire him too much. He's a good lad as well, he has his feet on the ground and we expect big things from him. We've also got Matthew Kennedy and Barrie McKay, so now we've got three good wingers in the squad."
Supporters under the age of 16 can gain free entry to all of this week's UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifiers, with entry for adults at £5.
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