Gordon Strachan hopes 'emotion' of England clash will take Scotland to new heights at Wembley

Out to cause an upset: Gordon Strachan
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Ronnie Esplin10 November 2016

Gordon Strachan is looking for the emotion of playing England on Friday night to make his Scotland players reach new heights.

The Scots have four points from three 2018 World Cup qualifying matches ahead of the game at Wembley and are desperate for a win to get their campaign back on track.

Much has been made of the passion surrounding a game against the Auld Enemy, who top the Group F with seven points, with Three Lions stand-in boss Gareth Southgate discussing the history of the fixture with his players.

Strachan, speaking at Wembley before Scotland trained, said: "Our players are intelligent enough to understand the fixture.

"I don't have to show them anything. They know the fixture, it's known throughout the world.

"The importance of the game is to not be caught up in the emotion of the game, but use the emotion and passion to run further than you've ever run before, to jump higher than you've jumped before, to concentrate more.

"If you get too emotional, you can lose focus. We're looking for that emotion and passion to play better than we've ever played before."

Strachan who revealed midfielder Scott Brown, back after a short retirement, striker Steven Fletcher and defender Gordon Greer are all "looking good" ahead of the match, admits he has to take a more dispassionate view of the occasion.

England train ahead of FIFA 2018 World Cup Scotland qualifier

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The former Scotland midfielder said: "It's different for different people, the fans take it different, the coaches take it different, the players take it different.

"We are the lucky people, especially the ones who are playing.

"The ones who are supporting can throw themselves headlong into the game.

"The ones who find it a bit harder are the coaching staff, you need to take a step back and look at it.

"I've been here as a supporter may times, I've been here as a player.

"I really enjoyed it as a player, I really enjoyed it as a supporter, maybe too much, but management is a wee bit different.

"The enjoyment comes at the end of the game when you get that glow of satisfaction if your team's performed well.

"We can't predict the result, all we can deal with is the performance."

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