We can do it - Caldwell

05 October 2011 09:35

Scotland defender Gary Caldwell is relishing the pressure of the decisive games in his team's attempt to reach the Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs.

The Scots go into away trips to Liechtenstein and Spain knowing they need to collect three more points than Czech Republic achieve against the world champions in Prague and Lithuania away. Caldwell is convinced Scotland can still qualify and is eager for the team to raise their game when it matters most.

"We are looking forward to it," the Wigan defender said. "When the pressure is on, as a group, we have to be a little bit better in terms of our performance. That, in turn, will hopefully bring us better results. These two games have come at a great time for us and we believe we can get the results that we need."

He added: "The last couple of games were exciting. They kept us in contention for that second place. Now this is it. It's the end of the group and the most important two games that we are going to face.

"From the start of the campaign until now we have improved. We have improved as a group in terms of the quality we've got throughout the squad and not just in the starting XI.

"We have to learn how to approach these qualifying games and learn how to be at our best in these games because these are the games that matter."

The former Celtic player feels it would be a huge boost going into the final game in Alicante above the Czechs, despite the scale of the task awaiting them against group winners Spain on Tuesday.

However, Scotland's chances could be all but over if the Czechs pull off a shock against Spain, 24 hours before Craig Levein's men play in Vaduz.

"They play first and we can't control that," Caldwell said. "They could beat Spain and that puts real pressure on us. We would have to win both games and hope they slip up.

"If they do get beat on Friday night, it puts us in a great position. In football, you always want it to be in your own hands and if we can go into the final game knowing that a win guarantees us going through, that would be a good position to be in."

Source: PA