Levein would welcome England in Nations Cup

The two nations will meet at Hampden on September 3 in what will be the Scots’ next competitive outing after facing Denmark in a friendly at the same venue in August.

Qualifiers against Lithuania, Liechtenstein and Spain then follow as Levein’s men aim to secure second place in Group I and a crack at the play-offs.

But Levein felt from the outset that the forthcoming game with the Czechs – who are five points ahead of Scotland having played one game more – was always likely to be the match that could make or break their campaign.

He said: “The next three matches are must-win if we are intent on reaching the second spot in the tournament.

“From the start of the campaign my thoughts were that we would need to beat the Czech Republic at home and it becomes the most important game in the section.”

Last month saw Scotland narrowly miss out on the inaugural Carling Nations Cup to the Republic of Ireland.

But Levein believes the get-together in Dublin can only benefit the national team ahead of those crucial qualifiers.

The Carling Nations Cup earned mixed reviews after some of the matches were played in a near-empty Aviva Stadium.

But Levein is adamant the tournament was a worthwhile exercise and would love to see England involved next time.

He added: “I hear rumours that that’s a possibility for two years’ time. It isn’t my job to organise the tournament, I can just say from my own point of view it was an excellent tournament for us and it brought a lot of things we otherwise wouldn’t have had.”