David Wotherspoon knows how difficult it will be again for Scotland under-21s to qualify for the finals of a European Championship after Holland were drawn in the same group.
The Hibernian player was part of Billy Stark's squad which lost out in a play-off with Iceland for a place in this years finals in Denmark. The young Scots will face Holland, Austria, Bulgaria and Luxembourg in the qualifying stages for the 2013 championships, and Wotherspoon remembers his last appearance against the Netherlands well.
"It is a difficult group yet again with Holland in there," he told Press Association Sport. "It is a big step for us."
He added: "I played against them at under-19 level and they gave us a lesson in how to play football.
"We played them over there and they beat us 5-0. I think they were the best team I have played against. The football was different class and their ability was tremendous.
"They had a player called Nacer Barazite who was at Derby at the time, on loan from Arsenal. He scored three goals and he was quite a player, but things change in a couple of years.
"That's in the past and this is the present."
Wotherspoon still feels a lingering frustration about failing to make it to Denmark, but is hoping to make amends this time around.
"It was a good campaign," he said. "I thought we played really well and it was disappointing. but we did ourselves proud.
"This is a younger squad. Obviously we need time to gel together but hopefully we get that."
Source: PA
