Scotland must follow Andy Robertson’s lead in England showdown to keep Euros hopes alive at Wembley

If Scotland are to get a result against England on Friday and breathe life into their Euro 2020 campaign, then it is safe to say Andy Robertson will be at the heart of it.

During Monday’s painful defeat to the Czech Republic, Robertson was his country’s best player and one of the positives manager Steve Clarke can take forward to Wembley.

As soon as you arrived in Glasgow, the magnitude of the occasion hit you as the bars and streets were full of Scotland fans revelling in the fact they were back at a major tournament for the first time in 23 years.

Supporters had dusted off and ironed their finest kilts, kids had dyed their hair blue and the walk to Hampden Park was full of optimism.

Undoubtedly the occasion got to some of the Scotland players, who, as Robertson explained afterwards, “let the fire in their bellies” outweigh “the ice in their brains”.

Robertson, though, rose above that and you could see the value of his experience of winning the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool.

“I am very lucky to have the experiences that I have had, a couple of others are as well,” he said.

“But most of them maybe haven’t been in that situation. It was important to have, I think the manager said it in his pre-match talk to us, fire in the belly but ice in the brain, and I don’t think we did that well enough at the start.

“Maybe we were too erratic, maybe some of us were too caught up in the moment, but we did then settle.

“We are new to this. I think we are the least-capped team in the tournament, which you have to take into account.

“But unfortunately, there is not enough time to learn on this job. You need to learn very quickly.”

If Scotland are to learn swiftly then the squad would be wise to follow Robertson’s example, who is quite clearly top of the class.

Scotland v Czech Republic - UEFA Euro 2020: Group D
Getty Images

He demonstrated that on Monday by being the team’s best player - in both attack and defence - and England will have their work cut out to stop him.

We have seen through his performances for Liverpool how threatening Robertson is going forward. But deployed as a wing-back as opposed to a full-back, with a back three behind him, the 26-year-old looks even more dangerous as he has extra license to go forward.

Gareth Southgate, as we know, has a fine crop of right-backs to pick from and he needs to make sure he selects the right one on Friday.

It is not just Robertson’s ability on the ball that Scotland need to utilise, but his influence off it, too.

More than once on Monday he motioned for his team-mates to calm down and they need to follow his lead.

Against the Czech Republic, Scotland never really settled until at least half an hour into the game. By then, the visitors had been allowed to settle too and in the end they were the team who took their chances, with Patrik Schick striking either side of half-time.

“It’s a tough lesson for us that at the highest level, at the best tournaments, you have to take your chances,” said Robertson. “Czech Republic did that, we didn’t.”

It is not all doom and gloom for Scotland, though, and until Schick’s stunning second goal from 50 yards, they had looked capable of mounting a comeback.

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

That was largely down to Clarke’s half-time introduction of Che Adams from the bench. Scotland looked so much more threatening with the Southampton striker up front and he surely must start against England.

There will likely be other changes too - not least in defence, where Clarke will hope to have Kieran Tierney available. The Arsenal defender missed Monday’s game due to what Clarke described as “a niggle” and his absence was felt as Robertson couldn’t link up with him.

The right wing-back position will come under scrutiny too. Robertson may have been Scotland’s best player, but on the opposite flank Stephen O’Donnell struggled.

His place must now surely be under threat as Scotland head to Wembley for a game that will go a long way to deciding their Euro 2020 destiny.

Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic - In Pictures

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