Midfielder Robert Snodgrass says Scotland have nothing to fear on Saturday when they take on England – and still believes the national team can qualify for the World Cup automatically by topping Group F.
Gordon Strachan looked on the brink of losing his job as Scotland manager after a dismal start to the qualifying campaign for Russia 2018 with a 1-1 draw against Lithuania followed by 3-0 defeats by Slovakia and England.
But Chris Martin’s late winner against Slovenia in March has kept the national team’s slim qualification hopes alive.
They sit fourth in the group on seven points – six adrift of leaders England but West Ham United midfielder Snodgrass believes a victory against Gareth Southgate’s side this weekend would get them right back in the hunt to win the group.
He said: “That was our objective at the start. It wasn’t to just fight for second place.
“We created a lot of chances against England in November and we would never have done that if we didn’t believe.
“We have always believed we could go for automatic but when you take hits and have to take a step back you then need to try and take two forward.
“We want to get there automatically, we want to beat England and we want to kick on.”
From Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling to Harry Kane and John Stones, the England squad possesses no shortage of quality ahead of Saturday’s Auld Enemy encounter at Hampden.
But Snodgrass, who plays against those players every week in the English Premier League, says there is no reason to be afraid.
He added: “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.
“The last game against Slovenia was more like the Scotland that we all want to see. There was no fear and there is nothing to fear.
“We have good players playing at a good level, so let’s go out and express ourselves.
“No one has opened up Slovenia in the group the way we got at them and created chances.
“The manager said that is the best we have played in this campaign, so if we take that level of performance into this match and take our chances then who knows, maybe we will get the result we want.”