Scots To Learn From England Defeat

Photo by Jeff Holmes Skipper Scott Brown believes the 3-1 humbling by England at Celtic Park on Tuesday night will bring Scotland back to earth. Gordon Strachan's side and the Tartan Army went into the challenge match against the Auld Enemy on a high after a thrilling 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland on Friday night. However, a double from Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had given the visitors a half-time lead meant Andy Robertson's goal proved to be a consolation. Scotland's next game is a Group D qualifier against minnows Gibraltar at Hampden Park in March, and Brown believes the England defeat will remove any possible complacency. "It will definitely keep our feet on the floor," said the Celtic captain, who was replaced at the interval by Darren Fletcher. "Everyone knows how good England are, we know they have pace and they pressed us high up the park and we struggled with that. "We didn't play to our game plan. We didn't get on the ball, we weren't brave enough and didn't create enough chances. "We didn't get the ball down, we didn't play well, we didn't press and we made mistakes. "We are disappointed with ourselves but the main thing is we got three points against Republic of Ireland and are sitting well in the group, and it is better to do it (lose) in a friendly match than in the Euro qualifiers." Ikechi Anya believes Scotland should look to learn from England and take those lessons into the Gibraltar match. "That's what we need to aspire to in every aspect of the game," said the Watford winger. "England dominated us and we have to learn from it and, come March, I am sure the gaffer is going to have tapes of it and we will study it and try to improve. "I don't think we can make excuses. We just need to look at ourselves in the mirror and say it wasn't good enough. "We let ourselves and the fans down, but we will try to learn something from it. "Gibraltar is four months away and that is another crucial game. "There is no point in getting a win against Ireland and a draw in Poland if we are going to slip up. "We are going to be really focused and we need to do what we have been doing, apart from in the England game, to get the three points." Anya believes the chastening defeat should be put in the context of a marked improvement under manager Strachan. He said: "Obviously everyone is quite sad now but if you look at the last 18 months, since the gaffer took over, I think we have made massive strides. "What we will do now is reflect on this game and make sure it doesn't happen again. "The easy thing to do is say Ireland took it out of us but we had a great couple of recovery days and trained really good. "We did what we could on the night but obviously it wasn't good enough. "That's what these game are for, to get something from, and we will try to improve. "We will step back, let it settle and analyse it."