Strachan With Tough Calls To Make

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan knows he has some big decisions to make over the coming hours as he picks his side to face England at Celtic Park.

Published 17th Nov 2014

Photo by Jeff Holmes Scotland manager Gordon Strachan knows he has some big decisions to make over the coming hours as he picks his side to face England at Celtic Park. Strachan's side come into the game following a morale-boosting 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland and although there will be no points to play for in Glasgow, there is plenty of pride at stake. "We did an intensive warm-up and I thought, 'this is as intense as the first day of pre-season'," the boss said in his pre-match press conference. "So many players want to play on Tuesday night. There's one or two lumps, but it hasn't affected anyone, it was kind of rub it and get on with it. "I would love to give everybody the experience of playing in the game one way or another. I want to win the game as well, we have had to try and balance that and that is what we will think about in the next couple of hours. "Everybody who is playing are competitors, everyone wants to compete and make it as difficult for the other team to win as possible, it will be the same on the other side. "It will be intense on Tuesday, their players will enjoy the atmosphere." It will be the second time in two years that Scotland have faced England, with Tuesday's visitors winning 3-2 at Wembley last August. That game was the first encounter between the teams for 14 years and for regular friendly fixtures between the two sides to continue, Strachan believes the players must perform on the pitch and the supporters behave off it. "We need to keep up the standard, you can only play it if the public want it," he said. "They enjoyed the last game, not just the football, everyone in London enjoyed the atmosphere. "Let's produce another game of football, the players like it that is for sure."