Source: FOOTYMAD
Scotland Need A Tough Test
Denmark will fully test Scotland ahead of the games in September. Craig Levein has backed his players to be able to cope with anything Denmark throw at them tonight. Levein knows he could have picked an easier opponent to act as the dress rehearsal for their crucial EURO2012 qualifying double-header against the Czech Republic and Lithuania next month. However, he opted to be challenged by Denmark - ranked 21st in the FIFA world rankings - because he is confident that his squad is now mentally tough enough to cope with anything that comes their way before the real action gets under way. Levein said: "This game has been picked to give us an equal test to what the Czech Republic will give us. If I felt confidence-wise that we weren't at the right place, I probably would have taken a lower-ranked team. I'm in a very confident place just now. I can't guarantee results but we will play well tomorrow night because we are in a good place, the players' heads are in a good place. We can handle whatever happens tomorrow night, it won't have any detrimental effect on what happens in the Czech Republic game. I deliberately picked a tough fixture. I felt, coming in to play two competitive matches at home against the Czech Republic and Lithuania, it would be good for us to play somebody of a standard and who was comparable to, particularly, the Czech Republic. I can never guarantee anything in football with regards to results but I will guarantee that the players will be playing at the absolute top limit of their efforts in this match and I've got great confidence that they will play very well." Kris Commons was the most recent withdrawal from the squad with a foot injury today, following call-offs by Steven Whittaker and Alan Hutton. But Levein hinted that he is unlikely to stray too far from his tried and tested format when selecting his side, with striker Kenny Miller already written in pen on the team-sheet. He went on: "Consolidation is a good word. What I'm establishing just now is a group that's extremely difficult to get into. I want it to be really tough to get into the squad and even harder to get a starting jersey. This is where I feel we have improved. The quality of the squad, the type of players that we have in the squad, their current form, including the way they played last season, and the rate that the players are improving gives me great encouragement about this group. It makes my job a hell of a lot easier." Scotland lost 3-0 in a friendly in Sweden this time last year but Levein believes there has been a vast improvement in the last year. He said: "The mentality of the squad has improved enormously from last season. We had nine or 10 call-offs last year and they are all desperate to be here this time. We have a stable system that the players all fit around and understand and that's a huge plus. Individually, if you go through that group of players that we've got and you look at the starting line-up, I would be very confident in saying that each of the players has improved enormously from a year ago." With the Premier League yet to get under way this season, Levein knows there will be a difference in sharpness within his squad at the moment. But he expects every single player to be fully up to speed by the time he picks his team for the crunch game with the Czechs. He said: "We are aiming now for playing in September in probably the most vital game Scotland has had for a long time and this game might help some of the players, it might be that some of the players need to play in this game to know that they are going to be part of what's coming up in September. When it comes to September, and the first game, I'll be looking very closely at who's at the top of their game."
