Strachan to inspire Wembley shock, says McCall

Football’s oldest rivalry is set for a 113th instalment as England look to strengthen their grip on Group F in World Cup qualifying.

Strachan goes into the clash with the Auld Enemy on the back of a disappointing double-header last month that saw the Scots take just a point from a home game with Lithuania and then suffer a 3-0 loss in Slovakia.

Another defeat tomorrow night could spell the end but Stuart McCall, Strachan’s assistant for three-and-a-half years with the national team before leaving to take charge of Bradford City last summer, is backing his old friend to inspire Scotland to a first win at Wembley since 1999.

Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post, the Bantams chief said: “Gordon is the sort of character to relish a situation like this.

“A game at Wembley and the chance to send thousands and thousands of Scottish fans home happy, he will be determined to do just that.

“He will use all his experience in the game to get the best out of the players he has available. We all know Scotland are heading to Wembley on the back of a disappointing couple of results but there will be no doom and gloom in the camp.

“When you come under fire, that is when a person’s true character comes through. Gordon is a fighter and he will want to beat England.”

Scotland are expected to be backed by a 13,000-strong travelling army of fans. However, after taking just four points from the opening three qualifiers, Strachan’s men head south sitting fourth in the table.

Defeat would effectively end any hopes of qualifying automatically for the 2018 finals. Even a play-off place could be beyond the Scots, meaning the stakes are high going into tomorrow night’s sold-out encounter.

England, too, need a positive result. Having been held to a goalless draw by Slovenia in last month’s qualifier and with memories of last summer’s abject Euro 2016 surrender to Iceland still fresh in the mind, the pressure is on the hosts to deliver.

Gareth Southgate’s future could, like Strachan, be decided by how the evening pans out with this being his third of four games as interim manager before the Football Association make a decision on Sam Allardyce’s permanent successor.

England, for all their struggles in 2016, will be buoyed by having beaten the Scots twice in the past three years.

Two goals from Wayne Rooney sealed a 3-1 win at Hampden Park in November, 2014, 16 months after the Scots had lost 3-2 at Wembley.

McCall was in the Scotland camp for both fixtures and, as a veteran of the Euro 96 Wembley encounter when Paul Gascoigne scored ‘that’ goal, he knows exactly what both teams can expect come kick-off.

“These games are always great occasions,” said the 52-year-old, who has turned down the invite to be a TV pundit at Wembley to instead focus on Bradford’s League One game with Rochdale the following afternoon.

“I was involved in the last one at Wembley and that was a good occasion, though ultimately one we were disappointed in because we lost.

“I thought we were going to do it but then big Ricky Lambert came on and scored. That was really disappointing and is the memory I have of Wembley, rather than it being a good game.

“By that, I mean it was a great occasion with 7,000 Scots down, all making a huge noise. But no-one enjoys losing and that is why we came away feeling down. The occasion counts for nothing when you lose.

“I didn’t come away from the Euro 96 game at Wembley thinking: ‘That was great to be involved in and what a good goal by Gazza’. Instead, I was gutted.

“But what we can take from that loss in 2013 is how well we played. With that and the game when Rooney got two at Hampden, we probably owe England one.”

McCall taking charge at Valley Parade brought to an end his stint working with the national team under Strachan.

It is not a decision the former midfielder has regretted, even allowing for the excitement surrounding the latest instalment of a rivalry that began in 1872.

“When games come round like this, it does give you a bit of a twinge,” said McCall. “I really enjoyed my time at Scotland but I love my job here and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I was asked if I would do TV on the night. But we have a really important game on Saturday at home to Rochdale and I need to be focused on that. I’ll be watching on television, of course. And hoping Scotland can do it.

“England are having a sticky patch so who knows? We are on the back of two disappointing results, particularly the 3-0 defeat in Slovakia.

“But this is England-Scotland and anything can happen. Injuries have hit us a bit, Andrew Robertson is a big miss. England will be big favourites but it is 90 minutes of football and we have a chance.

“To me, England will win the group so we have to try and finish second. A point at Wembley wouldn’t be the worst result in the world but I hope it is a win.”