Scotland a roaring favourite
I s r a e l g a f fer W i l l i Rut tenst einer admits Scotland will have a huge advantage in Saturday’s World Cup showdown with a sold-out Hampden.
And he admits a loss in Glasgow will end their hopes of making the play-offs.
The Scots face the Israelis yet again knowing that a win would ensure they take a g iant leap towards securing a play-off spot for Qatar 2022.
Hampden has been sold out for weeks and it will be the highest attendance at t he st a d ium for an international game since a last minute own goal secured a 1- 0 win over Slovakia in 2017.
Israel have been rocked by several injuries in their defence for the crunch match in Glasgow.
And Ruttensteiner has called up three uncapped players for the qualifiers with Scotland and Moldova.
Hapoel Tel Aviv defender Edi Got l ieb , Hapoe l Jerusalem’s Goni Anor and
Spezia’s Suf Podgoreanu could make their debuts against the Scots.
And Ruttensteiner admits Israel will travel to Glasgow at a disadvantage.
He said: “There will be a full stadium and that is an advantage for Scotland.
“But it’s normal for them for their entire country to get behind their team and it’s up to us to find a way to ignore the noise.
“The most important thing is to prepare well and have clear tactical training. We must not make mistakes there in Scotland.
“We must show courage, if we are defeated, we will lose the chance for the play- offs. If Scotland win this game they will finish in second place.
“It’s a real challenge, it’s very difficult to beat a team full of Premier League and Champions League players. But our goal is to win.”
Ruttensteiner also faces calls to drop former Hibs No.1 Ofir Marciano because he is only a back-up keeper at Feyenoord.
The manager said: “I am awa re of Ma rciano’s situation at Feyenoord but I’ve decided to keep him.”