Time to create our own Euro legacy

ROSS EAGER TO FOLLOW IN FOOTSTEPS OF LEGENDARY McLEAN

FOR Jack Ross, his formative years as a football fan were spent watching Scottish teams successfully jousting with giants of the European game.

Under the peerless Sir Alex Ferguson, Aberdeen won the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup against Real Madrid.

The legendary Jim McLean steered Dundee United to the semi-finals of the European Cup the following year and eliminated mighty Barcelona en route to the UEFA Cup final in 1987.

In the years that followed, however, Ross looked on as Scottish sides often became plagued by an inferiority complex when facing continental opposition.

Following Rangers’ appearance in last season’s Europa League final, where they lost narrowly on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt, the new Dundee United boss believes our game is on the rise once more. And he wants his players to demonstrate that rediscovered self-belief against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar as he aims to write a fresh chapter in the club’s rich European story. ‘My first experience of watching football was in the ’80s when Aberdeen and Dundee United were reaching European finals,’ recalled Ross ahead of tonight’s first leg of the Europa Conference League qualifier at Tannadice.

‘My childhood memories are based around Dundee United being a force in European football and reaching the UEFA Cup final.

‘We look back at that now and realise what a big achievement that was, especially given some of the clubs they beat along the way, so there has always been that correlation between European success and Dundee United.

‘Now we have an opportunity — albeit still very far away from what was accomplished by that group — to defeat an established European opponent and write our own little piece of legacy into this club’s European history.

‘There can be a tendency in Scotland to have an inferiority complex when we shouldn’t. One of our teams reached a European final last season.

‘We have good players and good teams in the Premiership. We face good teams at a domestic level. AZ are not an opposition beyond the levels that we face within our own domestic league. It is a different challenge. It is one we believe we can progress through, but we will need to play well.’

Scotland’s appearance at the delayed Euro 2020 competition last summer marked the nation’s first major finals since 1998.

Steve Clarke’s side may have failed to reach the World Cup in Qatar this winter but Ross sees the national team’s progress as further proof the Scottish game is heading in the right direction.

‘I also grew up at a time when it was normal for Scotland to reach major tournaments,’ he said. ‘But we also now have a number of our players who are playing in the top level of English football or in the top five leagues in Europe.

‘That is an indication that there are good players in Scotland — and there always has been.

‘We have a group of players here who have pretty good experience and have played in big occasions and big ties. They have experienced European football and a lot of matches at that level, so I don’t worry about that.

‘For us, it’s more about feeding into that crowd and being aggressive. The word “aggression” is often associated with being overly physical but it’s not about being overly physical. It’s about how aggressive we are with the ball and how we press.’

Ross hopes a work permit will come through in time to allow one of his new signings, left-sided Australia international Aziz Behich, to be included in the squad tonight.

AZ Alkmaar, who finished fifth in last season’s Eredivisie, have quality within their ranks — including captain and defender Bruno Martins Indi and midfielder Jordy Clasie, both of whom are experienced Dutch internationals.

Ross said: ‘We are fully aware of the threats they pose but the important part of my job is to try and find weaknesses to exploit.’