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EURO 2020: Scotland must not let the emotion of tonight's crucial 'Auld Enemy' clash with England at Wembley Stadium get the better of them, says Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn


By Craig Christie

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SCOTLAND'S European Championship hopes could rest on them getting a result at Wembley tonight - and John McGinn is urging his fellow Scots to stay calm in the big game.

Scotland star John McGinn. Scottish FA.
Scotland star John McGinn. Scottish FA.

Monday's 2-0 defeat at Hampden against the Czech Republic put Scotland bottom of group D and needing a big turnaround in fortunes to make the knockout stages.

McGinn will have a big part to play for Scotland as he plays against most of the England team in the Premier League for Aston Villa.

The former Hibs man says England will be massive favourites to win but says he and his fellow Scots won't be overawed by the occasion.

"For us the main message is to treat it like any other game. If we play with too much emotion and passion it may end up going against us or end up with ten men on the park.

"A lot of us have played in big games at Wembley and experienced it before, so we'll be passing on our experience and we won't be fazed, not one bit.

The sides drew 2-2 at Hampden in 2017 in their last meeting - remember the reaction to Lieigh Griffiths' second free kick!

"Going down there we've all had experience of big games in Scotland and England, so we'll be ready for Friday and hopefully get a better result than we did on Monday.

"I think we'll always be underdogs whether we won on Monday or not.

"They've got a population of 55 million; we've got a population of 5 million. They've got superstars throughout their squad, so we're always going to be underdogs, but hopefully it will suit us and we've got a few superstars of our own."

One of those superstars is Arsenal's former Celtic defender Kieran Tierney, who was a big miss for Scotland on Monday because of injury.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is hopeful that the stopper, who has trained this week, can be fit enough to return to the team against the English.

That would be a huge boost for Scotland if Tuerney plays, says McGinn, who rates him as one of the best.

"Kieran's one of the best full-backs or left centre-backs in the world at the moment for me.

"Arsenal's best player by a mile this season, so on Monday he was a clear miss.

"Any nation would miss Kieran Tierney in the starting line-up, so we'll see how he is towards Friday and hopefully he can help us on Friday night."


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