Levein Impressed By What He Has At His Disposal

Craig Levein is encouraged by the improvement in the quality of his players Scotland manager Craig Levein believes the squad he announced today for the game against Brazil are capable of beating any team in the world. Levein has seen an improvement in the players he is able to call into his squad since taking over in December 2009. One example is Charlie Adam, who has gone from a player allowed to leave Rangers and has transformed himself into one of the Barclays Premier League's most sought-after names. Levein has also been impressed by the likes of James Morrison, Phil Bardsley and Graham Dorrans who all played in the 3-2 defeat by Spain at Hampden in October, a performance that seemed to enhance the manager's opinion of his group of players. Scotland were impressive in a 3-0 Carling Nations Cup win over Northern Ireland last month, and Levein is eager to be reunited with his squad when they travel to La Manga in Spain on Monday for a five-day training camp. Levein said: "Working with them makes me excited, getting them back together again, and seeing the improvement in them. I'm not going to sit here and tell you we are going to beat Brazil. What I will say to you is that we will do everything in our power to beat Brazil, and this group of players we have got are capable of beating anybody." Levein could not name West Brom midfielder Dorrans, who has an ankle injury, or captain Darren Fletcher, who has missed several Manchester United games through illness, in the squad. They joined long-term absentees Shaun Maloney, James McFadden and Lee McCulloch, but Levein has brought through the likes of Leeds winger Robert Snodgrass to encouraging effect in recent games. Levein said: "It's an inexperienced squad. But what pleases me most is the amount of players who are a good age for international football. Their best years are ahead of them, and the amount of improvement a lot of these players have made this season almost is remarkable. It gives me encouragement to look down the list and see guys who I know are in form and I know I'm going to be working with for the next few years and are going to be improving and helping the Scotland team." Levein has called up inexperienced players such as St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson, while Blackburn defender Grant Hanley and Liverpool's Danny Wilson retain their places. The former Dundee United manager went on: "I have great faith in this group of players. We have a number of players in here who I see as the future of the team. Without going over the top on individuals, Robert Snodgrass joined us in the last match against Northern Ireland and he is typical of this new group of younger players who I think are immensely talented. He has had a wonderful couple of seasons at Leeds. He is maybe not a starter, but he is pushing to be involved regularly in the national team. He is a talented lad in the best form of his life and he will only get better. Another one who springs to mind is Kris Commons, who has improved enormously from the minute he left Derby and joined Celtic, his performances have been wonderful. Although he was on the radar and involved in squads previously, I think he is playing the best football of his life. I could go through the list talking about current form." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net) Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba Net

Source: FOOTYMAD