McLeish stirs up Scottish pride

Scotland manager Alex McLeish has urged his players to have "no fear of failure" as they prepare for their decisive UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier against Italy at Hampden Park on Saturday.

Pressure off
The Scots will qualify for their first finals in a decade if they can take all three points against the Azzurri, but irrespective of the result McLeish feels his squad can feel proud of their achievements in Group B and insists the pressure is all on Italy to get at least a point to maintain their own hopes of qualification. "Suffice to say we go into the game as underdogs and the pressure is all on Italy," McLeish told uefa.com. "They are the world champions and will be apprehensive about coming to Hampden. Whatever happens these players have been successful because no one gave us a chance in this group. We have taken it right down to the wire and that's why we have to go out with no fear of failure."

'Concentration and work-rate'
Italy have failed to win in three previous visits to Scotland including a 1-0 defeat back in 1965 when Rangers FC full-back John Greig scored a last minute winner in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. However, McLeish cites the two successes against France in the current qualification campaign as the template his players have to follow if they are to record a famous win against Roberto Donadoni's side. "We will require a similar kind of performance to those games," said McLeish. "We need to maintain our concentration and work-rate throughout and if we can get a bit of inspiration on top of that, then you never know."

McFadden decision
James McFadden, who produced a wonder strike to give the Scots a 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes in September, will be expected to provide the inspiration once again but after losing their last game in Georgia, McLeish admits he has still to make up his mind whether to start with one or two players in attack. "I wouldn't want to leave myself too open against Italy but if you look at the games we've played at Hampden, I've played two strikers and we've been very bold," continued McLeish. "Looking back to the Georgia game one of the things that rankles with me a wee bit is maybe not going with the one striker in that game, so it's something we will need to consider."

Settled position
Scotland's success has also shifted the focus on to McLeish's own future. The 48-year-old has been linked with recent vacancies in the English Premier League, but while he would like a return to the club scene at some stage, the former Rangers FC manager maintains he is content where he is for now. "I'm contracted until the end of the 2010 [FIFA World Cup] qualifying campaign and I'm quite happy with that for the moment," said McLeish. "I will be travelling to Durban for the draw next week, but first things first, there's the small matter of trying to beat the world champions."