GEMMILL’S MEN WON’T FEEL INFERIOR
SCOT GEMMILL knows his Scotland Under-21s are facing an uphill battle tonight against an England side with virtually unlimited resources. Last year, the English youngsters won the Toulon Tournament, the Under-20 World Cup and the Euro Under-19s Finals. Their staff list for this event in France far exceeds every other country and they even have their own chef. Gemmill, however, insists that will count for nothing tonight and he believes his current crop of youngsters can avenge last season’s semi-final defeat to their neighbours when the nations meet in Aubagne. ‘It’s the same for all the countries with big budgets, in terms of the depth of staff they have,’ said the head coach. ‘But it’s a real insight into the level England are operating at. ‘Someone told me that the FA recently paid for Brazil Under-17s to play their Under-17s in Spain because they didn’t have an opponent. Again, that shows the resources they’ve got. We’re in no doubt about that. ‘But it doesn’t mean we should feel inferior to them or concede the game. ‘You could say the same about the French, the Brazilians or the Dutch who we’ve beat. It’s nice to have it but it’s all down to what happens in the game. ‘England are clearly one of the best teams out here. They are a top, top team. They have done well at all youth levels — just look at the year they had last year. ‘We played them at Under-21s recently and a lot of them are here. We are under no illusions that it is going to be a very difficult game. We need to prepare well and we will do everything in our power to find a way to win. ‘It’s going to take absolutely everything from us. We need to be correct tactically, physically, the keeper will need to make saves. ‘But, hopefully, we have done enough for us to show optimism here. ‘You don’t win the games we have by fluke. If you list the teams we have beaten at youth level over the past 18 months, we have shown we can do it. We will make sure we are ready to try and produce another big win.’