SFA KO friendly ahead of England

SFA CHIEF Stewart Regan has confirmed Scotland will not play a friendly ahead of their World Cup crunch against England in June.

And that means a huge chunk of the Scotland squad will be in cold storage for up to 34 days ahead of the Auld Enemy showdown.

Scotland face England at Hampden on June 10 and it was suggested that Gordon Strachan may look for a friendly to give his team some match practice before they face Gareth Southgate’s side.

But SFA chief executive Regan has confirmed to Scotland fans they will be no warm-up clash.

In response to a question about a possible game, he used social media to reveal: “There is no friendly planned for June. The focus is all on the England match.”

The English Championship’s final day fixtures end on May 7 – a whole 34 days before Scotland play England in Glasgow.

Five of Strachan’s last line up and subs against Slovenia last month play in that league – Russell Martin of Norwich City, Charlie Mulgrew from Blackburn Rovers and the three subs, Derby County’s Ikechi Anya, Norwich City’s Steven Naismith and goal hero Chris Martin from Fulham.

Although the English season is extended to the play-offs – with the Final at the end of May, only Martin and Fulham team mate Tom Cairney feature for clubs who currently sit in a play-off spot, along with Sheffield Wednesday trio Steven Fletcher, Barry Bannan and Jordan Rhodes.

Matt Ritchie is at Newcastle, who are set to be promoted tomorrow and his season will end at the start of May along, Cardiff City’s Allan McGregor and Ipswich Town’s Christophe Berra.

It means a huge chunk of Strachan’s rusty team will have gone over a month without a competitive game.

But most of Southgate’s team come from the English Premier League, who play on until May 21.