It’s just something we have to deal with.
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Debate has raged over who Gordon Strachan should select as his lone striker against the Poles as the Scots seek at least a draw in the hope of keeping their qualification dreams alive. “I think if you compare them to Ireland, Scotland are a side who like to pass the ball, but Ireland are more concerned about getting the ball quickly into the box with a long pass”. It’s not as simple as giving the striker an early reducer though. Though he often impressed for a Cardiff season that ended up bottom of the Premier League in 2013/14 he certainly had his share of chastening moments. He told the Daily Record: “You have to be clever”. There are times when you might have to dive in but players like that are clever enough and sharp enough to see when you’re coming.
Shinnie has also played in midfield for the Scottish Premiership leaders this season, and can play in either full-back position.
“He is a top-quality striker”. It’s no secret I blame the referee for what happened in the last game. “That’s why you play football, you want to test yourself against the best”.
“It is as much about stopping the supply to him as it to just stopping him”.
“Scotland are a team who likes to play football”, he added.
“We can take confidence from drawing 2-2 in Poland”.
“But we are not reflecting on the campaign just yet, because we have a big game on Thursday night”. But it’s not all about him. I have a lot of respect for Scotland, as I do all our opponents, but I believe the game will be decided by how we play.
“A growing number of fans would prefer a starting slot for Leigh Griffiths, Steven Naismith, Chris Martin or Jordan Rhodes“. Plenty of the individuals in the Scotland back five are playing well individually, and several have the experience of dealing with good strikers – though they likely have never come up against one in the form of Lewandowski.
Hanley said: “Jordan has been on fire – he has been banging them in”.
“That’s what he has been doing, so he has given himself the best chance he can of being involved”.
‘But most of all we focus on what we want to achieve, what we have worked so hard for’. We have good quality players ourselves, so we will be focusing on what we can do to score goals at the other end and win the game.
But victory would all but guarantee a play-off place unless the Irish did something silly like beating the Germans.
“We will need that from him because he has been key in all the good things we have done since Gordon came in. As a group, over the next few days we will get the players to concentrate on their football, their jobs”.
“It would be agony it we fall short at this stage of the campaign, so we will be going all out to put in a good performance and get a win”.
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“Obviously he’s their guy they hope will get goals for them so we have to pay him attention”, he is quoted as saying by The Guardian.
