Thursday 11 June 2015 21:02, UK
Former Scotland international Christian Dailly believes Gordon Strachan’s side have earned the right to feel confident heading into their crunch European Qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday.
Dailly, capped 67 times for his country, says recent Scotland performances will have given the squad belief they can take something from the game as they look to keep pace with world champions Germany and Group D leaders Poland.
Ireland can leapfrog Scotland should they win but while the former West Ham and Rangers defender knows there might be some nerves around the Aviva Stadium from both sides given what is at stake, he is expecting to see a confident Scotland side take to the field.
He told Sky Sports: “I think they’ll come across as really confident. I think they’ll be confident. They’ll certainly not feel inferior in any way and it is just excitement.
“I feel like it is pretty evenly matched but I would think Scotland would think that they can get at least a draw there and the way they’ve been going about things lately, they will be looking to go and win it, which I think makes for an exciting game.
“There is obviously always going to be an air of apprehension and pressure because the country has been waiting for so many years to qualify for a major championship but I think they’ll just be confident.
“I think Ireland will be confident as well but the way that Scotland have been playing – they’ve been so good lately and the games they’ve been winning, they have not been by chance. Every game has been well earned and they’ve looked at least as good as any side or better than any side they’ve played against lately and that is really encouraging to see.
“I think Scotland will go and try to win but if they got a point they would take it. I think Ireland really need to win it, but at the same time the way the group can be you can think you’re in a good position then suddenly you lose a couple of games against the teams above you and then you’re back worried again.
“Having that third-placed team able to qualify has opened up a massive door but with the group the way it is, it just makes the game on Saturday massive. Especially with two teams just across the water from each other and they all know each other pretty well, the managers with the same histories and the fans will be having a fantastic time. It is just a brilliant fixture.”
Dailly, who played for Scotland the last time they appeared in a major finals at the World Cup in France in 1998, has paid tribute to the work Gordon Strachan has done with the squad since taking over in January 2013 and believes the players are enjoying international football again under his leadership.
He thinks the potentially fiery and scrappy encounter between the sides could also bring out the best in a number of different players including the likes of Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney.
He said: “It just feels like they are able to express themselves in exactly the way they’d normally express themselves in club football. They don’t appear to feel restricted at all in their movements going forward and they are allowed to go and use the attributes that they’ve got.
“Maybe before this they were slightly conservative about going forward, looking maybe not to lose. I think someone like Gordon Strachan - and Martin O’Neill is a bit the same - when you’ve managed the very top clubs and you’ve played at Rangers and places like that and you see what it is like, every single game is about winning and the only way you can do that is by being really progressive and positive when on the ball and having players allowed to express themselves under any circumstances, under any type of pressure.
“I think they are in good positions when they’ve not got the ball and when they win it they are using their attributes and feel like they’ve got the freedom to just go and express themselves when they have got the ball. And when you know you’ve got that as a player it is really enjoyable.”
He added: “It is made for boys like Scott Brown; you’ve just got to make sure he keeps the head because you need to keep boys like him on the pitch.
“Boys like Maloney are instrumental in the way that Gordon Strachan is trying to play. He’s not obviously huge, physically, but that’s the type of player Scotland have got.
“He’s getting boys like Maloney and these clever players of good ability into dangerous positions just slightly off the front, just inside the full-backs, making it really awkward for teams to pick him up. And he’s really clever, he threads balls in. If he doesn’t get picked up he can hit balls and he can score goals. That’s the type of thing, the little changes that Gordon Strachan has made.
“He’s made sure guys like that are in these positions when Scotland have got the ball and it is causing teams problems.”
Dailly says fans and pundits should be wary of getting too far ahead of themselves after the whistle has gone in Dublin, saying that while it may be a cliche, players can only focus on the game at hand.
However, he knows Saturday has the potential to be a very special occasion and thinks the atmosphere created from both sets of fans will be electric.
“I think you’re in a group stage and you can look no further than just this game,” Dailly said. “You’re playing away from home with Scotland and you’re just looking to try and win the game.
“You understand that Ireland are going to come at you because they’ll be really looking to win. They’re under pressure in front of their home fans to win but I think you only look to that and then you see where you are at the end of it.
“It will be an unbelievable atmosphere but the Scotland fans will be massively behind the team and you can always hear them. They’ll sing the entire game.
“If you think about it, it’ll probably be one of the most vibrant atmospheres ever that you can get in football. When you think you’ve got a group of Ireland fans and a group of Scottish fans in the one stadium in a match as important as this - it is some game.”
Christian Dailly will be a guest on Sports Saturday on June 13 from 12-5pm.
Watch Ireland take on Scotland live on Sky Sports 1 and 5 from 4pm on Saturday, June 13.
