Hull City's Robert Snodgrass happy to switch from KCOM hero to Wembley villain

The 29-year-old yesterday joined up with Gordon Strachan’s squad ahead of Friday night’s eagerly-anticipated resumption of world football’s oldest rivalry.

Snodgrass had been expected to miss the clash with the Auld Enemy after suffering an ankle injury last month on Hull duty.

He was initially ruled out until at least November 19, but a goal-scoring return to action in the Tigers’ 2-1 win over Southampton means Strachan will now be able to call on a player who already has an international hat-trick to his name this season.

“Now the international break has come around I can’t wait for the England match,” Snodgrass told The Yorkshire Post.

“It is a big game for both countries and, hopefully, we can get a good result. Let’s hope I can come back here (to Hull) unpopular. That is the nature of the beast, that is football.”

Player profile: Robert Snodgrass

England top Group F, having taken seven points from three games. Scotland are three places and three points behind Gareth Southgate’s side after a disappointing double-header last month.

A 1-1 draw at home to Lithuania was followed by a 3-0 defeat at Slovakia to pile the pressure on Strachan ahead of the 113th meeting between these two great rivals.

Victory for the Scots would, therefore, not only breathe fresh life into the former Leeds United captain’s managerial reign but also the Tartan Army’s hopes of a first appearance at a major finals in 20 years.

Snodgrass had to endure a summer where all the other Home Nations plus the Republic of Ireland were at Euro 2016 as Scotland missed out and he believes this can inspire Strachan’s men.

“This is a massive season for Scotland,” added the Hull talisman, who admitted last summer to not having watched much of the European Championships.

“Look at what happened last summer with Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland. They all did so well as the underdogs.

“England are beyond that bracket and tipped to win it before a tournament. It meant they fell short of what they wanted to do (in the Euros by losing to Iceland).

“For Scotland, we are in the Wales bracket. We want to qualify. It is why I always want to do as well as I can for Hull to keep myself in the international picture.”

Snodgrass’s quicker than expected return to action has been timely for his country. A hat-trick in September’s win over Malta means he is Scotland’s top scorer in qualifying, and his performance in Hull’s victory over Saints means England will be wary.

“People were all talking about the Scotland-England game but I had a job to do for this club,” said Snodgrass when asked about his early return to action.

“That is why I worked hard to get back. It was nothing to do with Scotland. It was one game at a time.

“As you know, the club said (after the Stoke injury) that I would be out for four weeks. But when the team lost last week (at Watford) it was always in the back of my mind that I was going to work as hard as I possibly could to get back.

“I wanted to put my body on the line for the football club and my team-mates. That is what I did. I was maybe out for 10 days of the four weeks because I worked hard to get back.

“If you are asking was I 100 per cent (fit against Southampton) then I probably wasn’t. But that is what it takes to get a result sometimes.

“The big objective for me was to help my team-mates pick up three points if I was called upon. Now, though, it is back to international level and I can’t wait.”

If Scotland need any inspiration ahead of looking to overcome the odds on Friday night then they could do a lot worse than look at Hull’s unexpected victory against Southampton.

Behind inside five minutes and having lost two strikers to serious injury before the half-hour mark, the Tigers roared back to triumph thanks to goals from Snodgrass and Michael Dawson.

“It was a massive win,” admitted Snodgrass after helping Hull end a damaging run that had yielded just one point from the previous eight games. “Any points in the Premier League are big, but we had been on a bad run so I think that made things that little more sweeter.

“We took three points from a very good side who had just beaten Inter Milan. It was a great result. We weren’t at it in the first 25 or 30 minutes, but getting level gave the whole stadium a lift. We needed to give the fans something to cheer about.

“Luckily enough, it was me who got the goal that got us back in the game and then it was a wonderful header from Michael Dawson to win the game.”

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