ian1964 10,761 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Should be a good game tonight. THE Scotland boss arrived in Warsaw on Monday without key defender Grant Hanley and with serious concern over the fitness of little talisman Ikechi Anya. GORDON Strachan last night insisted injury-hit Scotland are not running scared of table-topping Poland in Group D. The national boss jetted into Warsaw yesterday without key defender Grant Hanley and with serious concern over the fitness of little talisman Ikechi Anya. While Hanley has been sent back to Blackburn for treatment Anya travelled with the squad but did not train at the National Stadium as Strachan went through his final preparations ahead of tonight’s showdown. The manager is likely to replace Hanley with Brighton stopper Gordon Greer – who was paired up with Russell Martin here back in March when Scotland notched a 1-0 friendly win. But even though there are no obvious replacements for left winger Anya, Strachan remained in seriously bullish mood yesterday on the back of Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over Georgia. And not even Poland’s shock 2-0 win over world champions Germany has dampened his spirits. He said: “It would be great if Anya makes it but even if he doesn’t we’re not scared of the situation. We have other people who are ready to go. “Hanley took a knock to his knee in the Georgia game and is away home. “Ikechi also had an injury and won’t train. We’ll have a look at him – he has tightness in his calf. “We’d prefer to have both players but we’ll be all right. On Sunday night I didn’t go into any real panic about it.” And so supremely confident is Strachan that he insists Scotland are here not just to take a point from the high-flying Poles but to beat them. He said: “Maybe during the game I might settle for a point but at this moment let’s go for all three.” SCOTLAND'S RECORD V POLAND Poland have entertained Scotland on five occasions before tonight. Here Record Sport gives a rundown of those games. POLAND 1, SCOTLAND 2 (Warsaw, June 1958) Celtic inside right Bobby Collins scored a goal in each half as Scotland won the first meeting between the teams. The game formed part of the visitors’ final preparations for the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden. POLAND 1, SCOTLAND 1 (Chorzow, May 1965) Collins, now with Don Revie’s great Leeds United team, also played in this World Cup qualifier which was Jock Stein’s first match in charge of the national team. Denis Law earned Scotland a point when he equalised in the 76th minute, but the failure to beat the Poles in the group meant they finished behind Italy and missed out on the finals in England the following summer. POLAND 1, SCOTLAND 0 (Poznan, May 1980) Current manager Gordon Strachan was in the Scotland team that lost narrowly in a friendly during Stein’s second spell in charge. A strikeforce featuring Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan and Steve Archibald were over-shadowed by Poland great Zbigniew Boniek, whose shot deflected in off Willie Miller. POLAND 1, SCOTLAND 1 (Bydgoszcz, April 2001) Scott Booth earned Scotland a draw in a friendly which saw Craig Brown hand debuts to seven players – Barry Nicholson, Gavin Rae, Charlie Miller, John O’Neil, Kenny Miller, Andy McLaren and Steven Caldwell. Radoslaw Kaluzny headed the hosts in front, arguably from an offside position, when he beat Neil Sullivan to a free-kick, but Booth’s emphatic penalty gave a makeshift Scotland an unlikely draw. POLAND 0, SCOTLAND 1 (Warsaw, March 2014) The countries were drawn in the same European Championship qualifying group just after arranging a friendly earlier this year. The Scots gave themselves a morale boost ahead of the real thing when Scott Brown fired home a late left-foot strike, although the hosts were missing their injured star striker Robert Lewandowski. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/scotland-v-poland-gordon-strachan-4433307 I can see a score draw tonight. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chibmark 19 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 As is the norm, I expect this feeling of "we're actually not that bad just now" to be consigned to my memory banks tonight. The Pol v Sco game in March was a Poland win all over it but for some heroic goal keeping, some stout defending and poor finishing from the Poles, but both teams have progressed since then. I was hugely impressed with Scotland on Sat albeit vs Georgia. 2 v 0 Poland, Brown sent off. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,761 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Marshall, Hutton, R. Martin, Greer, Whittaker, Brown ©, Morrison, Maloney, Naismith, Anya, S. Fletcher. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Marshall, Hutton, R. Martin, Greer, Whittaker, Brown ©, Morrison, Maloney, Naismith, Anya, S. Fletcher. I've only recently started watching Scotland again as they were really abysmal before Strachan - actually getting to enjoy the games now - wife away oot wae sister, telly switched over to Sky Sports 1, can opened, feet up here goes 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 As is the norm, I expect this feeling of "we're actually not that bad just now" to be consigned to my memory banks tonight. The Pol v Sco game in March was a Poland win all over it but for some heroic goal keeping, some stout defending and poor finishing from the Poles, but both teams have progressed since then. I was hugely impressed with Scotland on Sat albeit vs Georgia. 2 v 0 Poland, Brown sent off. They have a better team than us with some proper top players but we're on a good run at the moment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Poland shirt like our away one about 10 years ago 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Alan Hutton 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 1-1 approaching half time. Could do with a winner - Poland's win against Germany really made our job more difficult in finishing second.... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,761 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 1-1 approaching half time. Could do with a winner - Poland's win against Germany really made our job more difficult in finishing second.... A draw would be a good result,and a Germany win. The way we are playing we could score again. Terrible error by Hutton, but we have responded excellently and look quite confortable. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Poland do have good individuals but Scotland look better team wise have more of the ball and can win this 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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