READY FOR ONE HULL OF A TASK

Robertson can vouch for might of England’s swashbuckling Spurs

ANDREW ROBERTSON did not notice any tools being downed on the KCOM Stadium turf by Spurs. He could not see a single pair of flip-flops on the England players he challenged.

This was the final day of the Premier League season, a meaningless event between his relegated Hull City and a Tottenham team guaranteed to finish runners-up no matter the result. A game made for many a millionaire to wind down gently into a luxurious summer.

Yet what Robertson witnessed a fortnight ago confirmed to him that anyone who believes some of England’s superstars will view a qualifier in mid-June as a nuisance should forget about including Spurs players in their misguided theory.

Robertson spent 73 minutes of the match on the bench watching the visitors take a 5-1 lead.

The Scotland full-back played the remainder as Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane rested up in the final stages and Mauricio Pochettino’s side settled for seven. This after hitting six at Leicester three days earlier. If any team had their minds elsewhere it was the home side in what was likely Liverpool target Robertson’s last game for Hull.

And, worryingly for Scotland, the style with which England’s finest in Spurs white finished the season left Robertson with the impression they don’t want it to end.

Those three core stars of the England line-up, plus Kieran Trippier, feature in Gareth Southgate’s Hampden-bound squad. Robertson believes it is ‘clutching at straws’ to suggest England’s stars won’t be turned on by turning up in Glasgow while many of their counterparts have jetted off for the summer.

He said: ‘Our manager made a few changes, a few were carrying knocks but, in the first half, Spurs were frightening. It would have been great to watch as a neutral.

‘But when it’s happening to your own team then it is never nice. You look at Harry Kane, the fact he scored eight goals in the last week of the season. He’s bang in form and someone we need to be wary of.

‘We need to be wary of them all. It’s clutching at straws to think English players won’t be as up for it as us. Playing for their country is not an inconvenience. Especially when you’re playing your rivals in a game like this. England won’t think like that. They’re going well in the group and will want to come through the whole campaign unscathed.

‘England have potentially got world-class players, guys who play at Champions League level.

‘That’s something we don’t really have apart from the Celtic boys. We have to believe, though, that we can get a positive result. We’ve got to hope the best England team doesn’t show up and that the best Scotland team does. If our best team shows up, we’re capable of beating anyone.’

A Queens Park player four years ago, there is no bigger Hampden occasion than an Auld Enemy tie.

The 23-year-old sampled and scored in a Celtic Park version. In November 2014, the visit of England had an after-thought feel to it because Scotland recorded a huge 1-0 victory over Republic of Ireland the previous Friday. Even for the young Scotland goalscorer, the highlight of his career was tinged with disappointment as a Wayne Rooney-inspired side prevailed 3-1.

‘It was great to score a goal for your country and against your biggest rival — it was the biggest moment of my life,’ said Robertson. ‘But it was a defeat. Looking back, I do take pride in what has been my first and only goal for my country.

‘I’d much rather it came in different circumstances but I do like looking back on it.

‘I think we got a few days off after it and I recall staying in Scotland and being around my family, hearing all the publicity around it.

‘When I got back to Hull the boys were just happy that England won but they were annoyed I’d scored against them. At least I had that over them. But they had the result.’

Scotland-England days were always an excuse for a party in the Robertson household, though fiveyear-old Andrew was snoozing soon after Paul Scholes had given Kevin Keegan’s team a 2-0 lead in the Hampden renewal of 1999.

‘I do remember watching it with all my family, there was a big party and it was a big occasion,’ he said.

‘I was probably sleeping by the end of the game, knowing what kids do. But my family have always supported the country and I’ve no doubt they’d have been disappointed at the end. I’m just happy to be involved in it now.’ By Fraser Mackie