Fernando fearful of Hampden hunger

FERNANDO SANTOS has warned his Portugal players Scottish passion can pose them a problem at Hampden.

The head coach has twice suffered defeats in Scotland and is expecting a difficult encounter in today’s friendly.

Santos managed AEK Athens when they squandered a 2-0 first-leg lead at Easter Road in a 2001 UEFA Cup match before edging through after extra-time despite a 3-2 defeat by Hibernian.

And his Benfica team were on the end of a 3-0 Champions League defeat by Celtic in 2006 at Parkhead.

Portugal moved five points clear in their Nations League group – A3 – on Thursday when they won 3-2 in Poland, without star player Cristiano Ronaldo as he fights to clear his name following allegations he raped a woman in Las Vegas in 2009, claims he strongly denies.

Scotland lost 2-1 in Israel on the same night to leave group C1 wide open.

Hampden is expected to be less than half full but Santos is wary of Alex McLeish’s men and the home support.

He said: “It’s a very tough game. Scotland are a strong opponent.

“We have seen them playing

4-3-3 and 3-5-2 and set-ups we don’t usually play. They break away very well so we have to prepare for that.

“They have a really strong support,