Billy: I crash landed in the Faroes after horror flight
BILLY DODDS knows all about the perils of the Faroes – and reckons it won’t be plane sailing for Steve Clarke’s men in Torshavn tomorrow night.
Scotland are odds on to beat the minnows and take a step closer to securing a play-off spot.
But Dodds knows it will be a real test of their mentality – from the flight there to issues on the park.
The former Scotland striker, part of Craig Brown’s side embarrassingly held to a 1-1 draw by the Faroes in Toftir back in 1999, said: “I’m not a great flyer so I’ll never forget the flight into the Faroes because you come right over the cliffs and then you stop right at the edge of it!
“It’s an awkward place to go, it’s a test of mentality because you have to go there and win, especially after doing so well against Austria and Israel in the last two games.
“You have to be in the right mindset or you can be made to pay for it.
“And you know that if you don’t win, you’ll be getting a heavy slap from people back home.
“These are the pressure games, because we are expected to win and that’s where we have struggled at times in the past.
“Playing the bigger teams often takes care of itself, but these are the ones you have to get through to give yourself a chance of qualifying.
“Losing or dropping points here can put you out of the tournament but you don’t get much credit for beating them.
“You want to play well and win, but the main thing is getting the points.
“You have to have the mindset to overcome whoever you are playing. Against the minnows you have to get the job done.
“If you don’t then you will suffer further down the line.”
Scotland won easily in the reverse fixture at Hampden but Dodds knows they won’t find it so easy tomorrow night.
He said: “It’s harder for the strikers against teams like the Faroes because the game will be extremely condensed.
“They will sit off, let you pass it around at the back and in midfield but when it comes to the front players, they will have to work hard to find space.
“It will be very tight up there, you will get kicked and they will make it very difficult.
“So they’ll have to be really sharp, simply because we are the favourites and the way they’ll set up will be to deny space.
“If you get the goals then you don’t care, but it’s a challenge.”
STEVE CLARKE has already told Lyndon Dykes he’s off penalty duties.
But the Scotland boss doesn’t doubt his heroic hitman for a second. Just as he never doubted the entire squad’s ability to stage the magnificent second-half fightback that lit up the nation, shattered Israel and moved them to the brink of the play-offs for Qatar 2022. The Australia-born striker’s character shone as brightly as any of his colleagues’ as a packed Hampden was sent into raptures. His winning goals against Moldova and Austria last month had put Scotland in the driving seat for second spot in Group F ahead of the weekend showdown. But, when his spot-kick was saved by former Hibs No.1 Ofir Marciano, Clarke and his boys were in deep trouble as they trailed the Israelis. Dykes buried the misery and responded with a dominant secondhalf show which brought him a spectacular leveller before Scott McTominay won it in stoppage time. Clarke stopped his frontman for a quiet word as he left the pitch and, although he’s going to have to work hard to get the penalty duties back from his manager, Dykes doesn’t have to do anything to maintain the utmost respect from his colleagues and boss. Clarke said: “I just told him ‘I never doubted you’. “I don’t because he’s got character, but they all have character. “Last month he was the hero and I said to the lads at half-time ‘just make sure you bail Dykesy out’. “I’ve already told Dykes he’s not on the next one. “No doubt when he’s calmed down a little bit and I’ve calmed down a little bit, he’ll ask to take the next one. “We’ll decide depending on the starting line up. It just puts