Scotland’s record at Twickenham may be dreadful, but their captain insists that the memory of last year’s Calcutta Cup win is more relevant to the team that is seeking to end the 36-year wait for an away win in the rugby’s oldest international fixture.

Injuries have contributed to the fact that Stuart McInally is one of just eight members of today’s 23-man squad who were involved in that victory, but that result was a major surprise against a team that had won 24 of its previous 25 matches and they believe they can produce another upset.

"It's 80 minutes on a green pitch and there are two teams who are going to go at it. We respect how well England have played, but we're down here to try and win,” said the hooker.

"The feeling in the camp is really good. We're desperate to put in a strong performance for the people of Scotland but also for ourselves.”

He acknowledged that after two campaigns that had seen Scotland win more matches than they had lost in 2017 and 2018, this squad has failed to live up to expectations that they could consider themselves contenders to win the Six Nations Championship for the first time, but said they retain faith in their ability to compete with the best.

"We've underperformed in areas of this tournament and we're disappointed with that, but there's no lack of belief in the players that we're doing everything we can to win,” said McInally.

"Obviously we have the confidence that we can do it because we know we've done it in the last 12 months.

"It's going to be an intense game and it will be about whoever plays the best rugby on the day. We take confidence from knowing we can beat them, but we're under no illusions about how hard it will be.

"We are not competing for the championship and that's disappointing from where we wanted to be right from the start, but in terms of the pressure being off, I wouldn't agree with that. The pressure is always on when you play for Scotland and we love that."