STUART HOPES TO LIFT SCOTS HIGHER

Scotland midfielder Stuart Armstrong aims to lift the nation further after being heartened by the reaction to their unexpected point at Wembley.

The mood of the Scotland fans was temporarily deflated after their first major tournament game in 23 years ended with a 2-0 Hampden defeat by Czech Republic.

But they raised themselves for the Auld Enemy clash and achieved the performance that kept hopes of progress alive.

Scotland will almost certainly qualify if they can beat Croatia at Hampden tomorrow and Armstrong is taking inspiration from the effect their draw with England has had.

“To see the reactions has been fantastic,” the Southampton player said.

“I’m not big on social media but seeing that directly from family and friends sending bits and pieces through, it’s great to see that our performance and point against England brought a lot of confidence and smiles to the faces of the country.

“To build on that and give them something to cheer about on Tuesday is our ambition and focus.

“After the first game there was a lot of disappointment around the result and we knew we had to get something from the game, be that one point or three points.

“To come way with what we set out to achieve was obviously massive for us and it sets us up for the final game.”

The draw punctured some of the confidence from England fans and pundits who expected a comfortable home victory.

“Obviously, there was a lot of expectation from them that they should win the game,” Armstrong said. “We didn’t listen to that.”