THEY’RE RIGHT UP FOR BATTLE

England’s boot camp indicates just how desperate they are to win, says Snodgrass

ROBERT Snodgrass has seen the pictures. The images of England players in combat fatigues, being manhandled by Royal Marine instructors at a bootcamp in Devon.

The world’s oldest international football fixture fell into a state of disrepair in 1989. For England, the war with Scotland was over, the annual games offering more hassle and grief off the pitch than value on it.

Yet Snodgrass studies pictures of friends and club team-mates being sent on four-mile hikes with 21-kilos on their back and sees a team — a nation — preparing to beat their rivals to a pulp this weekend. Whatever it takes.

‘I know people in their camp and they have been doing a bit of team bonding,’ says the West Ham midfielder. ‘Assault courses and everything. So they will be ready for the game. They want to beat Scotland as much as we want to beat England.’

Down south, a different message usually emerges. Of a nation which holds Scottish football in something close to contempt. The SPFL Premiership is dismissed as an irrelevant pub league.

The national team’s failure to reach a major international tournament since 1998 is cited — with some justification — as evidence of a game in terminal decline.

It’s some time since England regarded Scotland as a ‘rival’ in any meaningful sense. This is a nation which prefers to measure itself against Germany, Spain and Argentina.

Yet that serves only to heighten the desire of the smaller nation with a chip on both shoulders to inflict a bloody nose on its larger neighbours.

‘I love the feeling of playing against them,’ adds Snodgrass. ‘I love it. The rivalry has always been there, with your parents bringing you up so that when England were playing you would get the opposite team’s top on and all that stuff. You would be cheering on that team.

‘It’s the way we have always been brought up and it’s no different now. When you get the chance to play against them, it’s big and it’s one we are all looking forward to.

‘There is a different sort of edge when you come up against England. Even when it’s a friendly game, you still get that fear in you that if you get beaten it won’t be good, but if you win it will be the best thing going.

‘That’s because there has always been the rivalry between the teams. The supporters are so passionate going into every single game we play but this is different.

‘I would be sitting here lying to you if I said it was just a normal game. This match takes care of itself.

‘If you are not up for this game, then I don’t know what’s wrong with you.’

The problem for England is obvious. Tell a rival how pointless and awful they are often enough and it becomes unthinkable to lose. A humiliation even.

By contrast, Scotland expect the worst. The nation has become fatalistic about football and games against England. Few think they can win, but the motivation to confound expectation is massive.

Fifty years since an iconic win at Wembley, the survivors of 1967 will be regaled at Hampden on Saturday. Victory in a genuinely meaningful qualifier would be career-defining for the current players.

‘People will remember you for years to come if it happens because there aren’t too many times it has happened,’ says Snodgrass.

‘You can sit and say: “That’s Scottish fitba” if we go and beat them. So there is that to consider but there are loads of different things about this match.

‘On the day, it will be about which team wants it the most.

‘It will be about which team has that desire to get on the ball and make things happen.

‘We all knew after the last game against Slovenia that it was more like the Scotland we all want to see.

‘There was no fear and there is nothing to fear. We have good players playing at a good level. Let’s go and express ourselves.’

After a dismal start to the campaign when Gordon Strachan might have lost his job, the Scots have given themselves a half chance. Victory over Slovenia courtesy of Chris Martin’s late strike was critical.

Defeat unbeaten England on Saturday and the gap to them narrows to three points. ‘Slovenia was probably the game where I felt we were right back to how we were when the manager first came in,’ says Snodgrass.

‘We played with no fear and people were taking the ball in tight areas, passing, moving and creating chances. That was the match that we were back to it. So we have to try to build on that.

‘There are loads of things you can sit and assess but it does come down to one match at a time.’

The teams have already met in Group F, England cruising to a 3-0 win at Wembley in November.

For Scotland, the operation was a success that night, but the patient still died. In key areas — attack and defence — England simply had more quality.

Yet Snodgrass claims: ‘It was shocking what happened down there, to be quite honest with you. There were probably only three moments and a three-minute difference between the teams. Had we taken our chances, we could have been victorious at Wembley.

‘However, that’s why these lads (England) are at the top at every level and in every position because they are guys who can score goals at any minute.

‘It just gives you that drive and feeling in your stomach that you are going to make things right come Saturday.’

The supporters are always passionate but this is different