Martinez urges his side to forget friendly stroll and expect a tough test

Rob er to Mar tinez will take nothing from Belgium’s hammering of Scotland last year as he prepares for their Euro 2020 clash in Brussels tonight. The Red Devils cruised to a 4-0 win in their friendly at Hampden Park last September.

Steve Clarke took over from Alex Mcleish after a faltering start to the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign in which the S cots lost 3- 0 away to Kazakhstan in their Group I opener in Astana, and his tenure b e g a n w i t h a 2 -1 w i n o ve r Cyprus on Saturday.

Belgium’s 3-0 win over Kazakhstan at the weekend took them three points clear at the top of the table with three wins out of three but former Motherwell boss Martinez, whose wife Beth is a Scot, expects a tough test this time against Scotland.

He said: “We played a friendly and we need to remember that. When we played S cotland at Hampden, it was a test. They were trying things, they took risks, it was a ver y open game and it played into our hands. They are not going to be trying things. It is going to be a competitive game against a team in a good moment of confidence. They will build on what they did against Cyprus.

“When you score a goal in the last minute and get the first victory with a new coach – Steve Clarke is an experienced manager and they were ver y impressive.

“So quickly everyone knows wh a t t h e y h ave t o d o , t h e y have a clear direction, they are going to b e well drilled, well p ositioned defensively and then they have huge pace in the wide areas in the oneversus-one situation.

“This is a young, but ver y talented Scotland team, so we are going to see a really good g a me. T h i s S c o t l a n d te a m is going to get stronger and better.”

Martinez is a fan of former West Brom boss Clarke and revealed that he had already caused him problems. The former Wigan and Ever ton manager said: “He’s a gentleman of the game. He’s got a lot of experience at big clubs.

“I faced him as an assistant of Kenny Dalglish, Gianfranco Zola at West Ham and Mourinho at Chelsea. He’s had a real mixture of styles and big personalities.

“He’s found his own way of working and has b een ver y

ROBERTO MARTINEZ

“This is a young, but very talented Scotland team. They will get stronger and better”

successful. I did suffer from his coaching at West Brom – we drew in my first game at Everton and I’ve always been a big admirer in the way he affects the players to do what they have to do for the team.

“His know-how, getting into a clear strategy – is what I’ve seen with Scotland.

“It’s going to be a competit ive , we l l - s t r u c t u r e d t e a m and we’re going to see it grow. I’m sure of that.”

However, Martinez admits he ultimately may have to upset the Scottish side of the family.

He said: “We put a ban on sp eaking about football – I hope ever yone is ver y upset when I come back home.”