Source: FOOTYMAD
Pressure All On Czech Republic
The Czech's need to win tonight if they are to take much more interest in Group I. This could make them dangerous opponents. Scotland have cranked up the pressure on Czech Republic ahead of tonight's game by telling their opponents it is a game they cannot afford to lose. Craig Levein would love nothing more than to return from Prague with three points. But he knows their hosts need the win more and he believes they will be feeling the pressure to deliver. Levein said: " I think this game is a big match for the Czech Republic as well. They lost at home against Lithuania and that puts added pressure on them for this game. If the Czech Republic team don't take three points from this game, they will be in a very difficult position. I think the Czech Republic have very good players but for me this is a game that we don't need to win but the Czech Republic must win. The pressure for me is not on the Scotland's players, it's on the Czech Republic." Scotland were criticised for the nature of their last-gasp win against bottom seeds Liechtenstein in their last game, battling back from behind to secure an injury-time winner. But, as far as skipper Darren Fletcher is concerned, results are all that matter as the Scots bid to end their lengthy exile from major finals. He said: "I think we showed great resilience in the Liechtenstein game, to go a goal down and come back and get the win. I'm not saying it was the best performance in the world, but sometimes to win and not play well is a good sign. There were a lot of bad tackles in that match and we showed good courage to come through. We kept playing and scored late on. We are judged on results. Performances are important at some stage but the most important thing is results and that's what we are looking for to help us qualify from this group." The midfielder believes Czech Republic's three Premier League players will be major threats tonight - especially Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky. He said: "Petr Cech is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and everyone in Scotland knows about Roman Bednar from his time at Hearts. Tomas Rosicky is the Czech Republic's talisman, he is their key player and he will be the player everything goes through. They will look to create chances through him. If we want to stop the Czech Republic from playing, one of the main things we'll have to do is stop him playing." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is ScottishFitba Net
