Gordon Strachan reveals the nine things Scotland will have to do to beat England

GORDON STRACHAN believes Scotland can be a match for England but only if at least nine of his players perform to their best in each game.

The national manager was reacting to a World Cup draw that saw the country placed in a qualifying Group F along with the Auld Enemy.

Also involved are Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta.

The news got Tartan Army foot soliders at the beam back at Hampden celebrating with spontaneous singing breaking out in the stands.

But while new SFA President Alan McRae, over in St Petersburg for FIFA’s big night, described it was he wanted and insisted there was nothing to fear, Strachan himself was more circumspect.

“I really enjoyed watching it with the fans at Hampden,” he said. “The sun came out just as England were pulled out of the bowl and the place erupted.

“We wouldn’t have got that reaction from the supporters for a pairing with any other country. No way.

“So the draw is good for every supporter in Scotland and England they’re loving it. It’ll be great.

“The coaching staff haven’t played against the other teams so that’s nice and fresh. There a few groups I didn’t fancy because I was thinking: “We’ve played them before.”

“It would have been going over old ground, I didn’t want to do that. It’s all fresh with Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta we’ve never experienced those teams.

“Logistically, it’s good because we don’t have to go far. And culturally, they’re nice places to go and visit.

“Everything is good, in that sense.

“But the England fixtures will be the ones for the fans.”

Sell-outs in the recent friendlies on either side of the Border in the last two years back his point.

And while Scotland have lost both under his charge, the national manager doesn’t see the results as significant in terms of the World Cup ties.

“I liked the first game at Wembley because we could have taken something from it,” he said.

“The second one at Celtic Park was a fantastic lesson for us. I said that to the boys at the time.

“The performance made England aware that if they didn’t get close to us, we could cause them problems.

“That’s fresh in the memory for whoever plays against them in these games. We’ll remember that night when England got really close to us.

“They even upped the tempo from their previous game, which was a Euro qualifier.

“So that was a great warning to us. I didn’t enjoy it at the time but it might be beneficial to us now, further down the line.

“I think we understand that most teams can beat us but most teams we can beat as well. That’s us as a group.

“If we’ve got nine players playing well on the one night that will be terrific, we’ll have an 80% chance.

“If we’ve got 11 out of 11 it’s a 90% chance we’ll beat teams.”

For now though, he insists his focus remains on leading the country to the Finals of Euro 2016.

“I will have forgotten about the draw by the time I was driving home because all I’m thinking about is Georgia and Germany,” he said.

“I will enjoy the freshness till I get back to the hotel and that will be fine.

“18 months down the line nobody knows what will happen. The standard of performance of the different teams could change.

“Look at Wales, Serbia, how they have improved. So, you never know. Nobody knows the reality of what is going to happen. Nobody knows who is going to be in the team.

“Are there new players, new coaching staffs? It is too far away. A lot could happen before then.”

England await but for now, Gordon Strachan has Georgia on his mind.