DECLAN GALLAGHER knows he is moving up in the world, simply by the calibre of player he is being charged with shackling. Domestically, that might mean stars from either side of the Old Firm, but he is now also being asked to put the reins on players from Real Madrid too.
That is all thanks to his emergence as a key figure in Scotland’s defence, with the centre-back arguably the most impressive performer in the national side’s recent three-game run that garnered three clean sheets and a place in this week’s Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia.
Rather than getting too comfortable though, Gallagher is savouring these moments as he knows they may never come around again, which is exactly the attitude he says the rest of the Scotland squad should have going into Thursday evening’s winner-takes-all clash in Belgrade.
“I was playing against a £5million player on Sunday,” Gallagher said. “Then Odsonne Edouard came off the bench as well, which was tough.
“Someone then said my next game is against Aleksander Mitrovic who is a Premier League striker for Fulham. There’s also Luka Jovic who plays for Real Madrid. So it doesn’t get any easier, does it?
“But the these are the games you live for and the games you want to play in as a professional footballer. Especially a player who is playing for Motherwell because we don’t get these opportunities very often.
“So it’s one I’m looking forward to. I feel confident about the game.
“We’ve been on a good run, that’s eight games unbeaten, so we have to go into this game with full confidence. There’s no point sitting back, being nervous and dwelling on it.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for some boys so we have to give it our all.”
The success of Steve Clarke’s side recently has been built upon the bedrock of that solid defensive unit, and Gallagher believes that is what will give the players the confidence that they can pull off a famous result on Thursday night.
“Keeping three clean sheets in the last camp was massive for us,” he said. “That’s given us something to build on and hopefully we can do the same again in Serbia.
“If we can keep a clean sheet at one end we have the players at the other end to get us the victory.
“It’s going to be tough. They have world class players and the game is obviously being played in Serbia. I would think that makes it harder.
“But at the end of the day we have a really good team and we know what we have to do.
“We’ll have a game plan and we’ll stick to it to hopefully win the game and get through to the finals.”
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