ADAM Lallana last night pinpointed Scotland's Celtic connection as the biggest threat to England's hopes of a Hampden victory. The 29-year-old, who made his way in the game at Southampton when Gordon Strachan was manager, will always be grateful to current Parkhead manager Brendan Rodgers for handing him his big break when he paid £25m in the summer of 2014 to take him from St Mary's. The two men have remained in touch ever since and Lallana said he had "taken a lot of notice" of the irresistible, invincible form of a Parkhead outfit who could contribute as many as six players to Scotland's starting line-up tonight.
"They have had a fantastic season," said Lallana. "I have been in contact with the boss throughout the season. I was fortunate that he brought me to Liverpool, and I will be forever grateful for that, for one reason or another it possibly didn't work out as well as I would have wanted in my first season at the club but I have moved on from that and he has moved on from that. It is no surprise to me that he has been such a success at Celtic. I have taken a lot of notice of theira season, it has been a great season."
Lallana can't have been phoning Rodgers last weekend, as he was part of an England squad outing to Devon where they underwent a boot camp with Royal Marines, slept in tents with all mobile phone communication banned. "It was refreshing not to have your phone for a couple of days - you don't realise how often you are on them - and I hadn't slept in a tent for a while."
Lallana, who headed the crucial second goal in England's 3-0 win at Wembley in November, belied the notion that the oldest fixture in international football means more to Scotland players. "It's an historic game," said Lallana. "We proved in the fixture at Wembley how much it meant to us. We'll be looking for another performance like that tomorrow. In terms of my own childhood memories, the Gazza moment sticks out in 96 when I was eight.
"It is a great honour to play in these games. We want the three points. We feel we're in a good position at the moment, so we want to capitalise and put the season to bed. I know we have another match against France, but this is by far and away the most important one.”
England, already in a strong position in Group F, are already looking to atone for the embarrassment of losing to Iceland in the Euros. “Last summer was a down moment in a lot of people's careers, but it's important we take whatever positives we can from it," he said. "We've been through that together. We know how it felt. We've not shied away from the Iceland performance, and we have learned from it. We're in a good moment at the minute, since the boss has been here. Session by session, we're gaining our identity and where we want to go as a team. These next two games are vital to keep pushing towards where we want to go. Qualifying for Russia and achieving something out there.”
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