Strachan: I’M LOSING SLEEP OVER CRUNCH MALTA TIE
GORDON STRACHAN is hoping England can do Scotland a favour in the race to reach World Cup 2018.
It’s very rare, almost unheard of, for the Tartan Army to cheer a victory by the Auld Enemy.
But there might just be a stifled Hampden roar of delight tomorrow night if Gareth Southgate’s men are beating Slovakia.
The Dark Blues now have the Slovaks in their sights after re- igniting their qualifying campaign with an impressive 3- 0 win over Lithuania on Friday night.
Tomorrow night could end with Strachan’s men just one point behind Slovakia.
That’s if Scotland defeat Malta and England beat the boys from Bratislava.
Slovakia would then come to Glasgow on October 5 for a truly massive clash.
The winner would be favourites to claim second place in Group F and a play-off spot.
Speaking about England’s game at Wembley tomorrow, Strachan said: “They need to do themselves a favour because, if they don’t do well and get beaten, then Slovakia go top and they’ll be a point behind “They don’t want to be in that position. “When you’re England, you have no option but to win games. It’s like being Manchester United or Chelsea or Juventus. You’ve got to win games. “But I can’t do anything about that.” While Strachan can only keep his fingers crossed, he can do something about maintaining the feel-good factor surrounding Scotland.
He admitted that he didn’t spend too much time basking in the success of his team’s victory in Vilnius.
The first thing he thought about yesterday was how to make sure the Scots get what looks like a straightforward three points against Malta. It’s a task that even disturbed his sleep. He said: “It’s very hard to take in.
‘ You have the game over there, you get on the bus and as soon as you’re on the bus you think: ‘Right, Malta’.
“That stops you enjoying it. You wake up during the night — ‘Malta’.
“We’ll watch Malta v England. Kenny the analyst put that together for us.
“He might pull out something different but we have a good idea. They have always been playing five at the back, four in midfield and one up.
“They are always difficult. When Lithuania played them, it was nearly 80 minutes before they scored the first goal.
“It took England long enough to score on Friday night.”
Scotland will have to do something they’ve never done before to claim the play-off – win four consecutive matches in a World Cup qualifying campaign.
The first one was achieved smoothly in Lithuania, No. 2 should come tomorrow night at home to Malta, then it’s Slovakia at home and Slovenia away on October 8.
When the Scots take the field tomorrow, Andy Robertson is likely to be the only surviving starter from the team that started the campaign with a 5-1 win away to Malta.
There’s been a welcome change in personnel and form over the last few months, and the revival started with a home win against Slovenia in March.
Strachan went on: “That’s what happens in a year. There is a shift in the players I expect to start games now.
“Maybe a wee while back, the players we thought would win us games, didn’t.
“The people we are picking just now with flair and imagination are winning games for us.”
Although qualification is now in Scotland’s own hands, Strachan says he wouldn’t have taken this position at the start of the group.
He added: “No, because I thought we would have been better than that.
“But it’s far better now than we were three games ago. I think we are all feeling a bit better.”
There has been a spike in demand for tickets to see the Malta game and it’s hoped a crowd of around 25,000 will cheer Scotland on.
Scotland are likely to field the same side that won on Friday night, although the system may be slightly tweaked.
Strachan, however, isn’t promising a swashbuckling performance.
He said: “The key for us is patience. If you come along to the game and think it’s going to be shots from everywhere, you’re going to be disappointed.
“It’s not going to be like that. They’ve got so many big people in their team and they’re really disciplined and strong.
“It’s going to be a night for real patience. If you’re going to get upset and flustered, it’ll play into their hands.”
Barry Bannan has left the squad because of injury but otherwise there’s a clean bill of health.