Will reap the rewards, says Parkhead legend Peter Grant
League game at the same venue three days later.
Because the former Fulham coach has also been impressed by how Tom Cairney and Kevin McDonald have performed for the newly-promoted London club in the top flight in England and knows there is now fierce competition for the central midfield berths.
“I worked with Tom and Kevin closely at Craven Cottage,” he said. “They are top players. They are now playing very well in the Premier League. That can only be good for Scotland.
“It’s massive to see them playing against the best every week and training with better players every week. Fulham have spent £104m and the quality they are up against to stay in the side will only make them improve further. We’ll get the benefit with Scotland.”
Grant continued: “Tom is a creator, he can create opportunities to score goals and scores them himself. He was in the team of the year in the Championship. Kevin captained the side.
“When I was manger at Norwich I tried to sign Kevin along with Paul Dixon, but Dundee didn’t want to let them go. Kevin went down to Wolves then on to Sheffield United. Sometimes you have to fit in to the jigsaw at certain teams, but he has found his place at Fulham.”
The players in the 23 man squad that McLeish has selected for the forthcoming double header have only netted a total of 10 goals between them, but Grant is confident that scoring will not be an issue with players like Cairney at their disposal.
“There are goals in the team,” he said. “Cairney is a creator, (Callum) McGregor scores goals from midfield, (Leigh) Griffiths will score in any company, (Stuart) Armstrong too and young Ryan Fraser is on fire at Bournemouth.
“Oli McBurnie has been on the scoresheet for Swansea this season and hopefully he’ll be up and running from Scotland. He had chances in Mexico and Peru but what that trip showed us is we need to get more bodies in the box. We want to be brave – we have to try to win games. If you end up losing, at least have a go.”