Scotland (6/4 to win in 90 minutes) manager Craig Levein faces his most important game in charge against the Czech Republic at Hampden on Saturday and he is boosted by the return of some important faces to the side.
Last year in Prague, the manager opted for a surprising 4-6-0 formation – which backfired when they were defeated 1-0 thanks to a header from Roman Hubnik – but there will be no repeat this time around as Scotland strive to get closer to that second spot in the group.
The Tartan Army need maximum points to keep themselves in with a realistic shot of winning a play-off place as runners-up to runaway Group I leaders and world champions Spain, so the return of skipper Darren Fletcher comes at just the right time.
The Manchester United man is going into the game woefully short of fitness – he has only played twice since being hit by a mystery infection back in March – but Scotland are not blessed with many world class midfielders so his guile and determination will be a massive boost.
Levein has also included Charlie Adam (10/1 First Goalscorer) in for his first competitive start and the Liverpool man should add the class and skill to Fletcher’s running to ensure Scotland are really competitive in the middle of the park.
Elsewhere, Alan Hutton is in at right back and Kenny Miller (5/1 First or Last Goalscorer) will start up front alone in what looks a strong Scotland squad on paper. The vast majority of the starting line-up plays in the Premier League, with three from the SPL and only one from the Championship – and that is something Scottish fans have not always been able to boast in recent years.
The Czech Republic (9/5 to win, draw 23/10 90 Minutes) come into this game smarting after a 3-0 friendly defeat to Norway last time out and they are without Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, meaning one of the untested duo of Jan Lastuvka or Jaroslav Drobny will be between the sticks.
There remains some real talent among the Czech ranks with the likes of Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky and former Liverpool man Milan Baros (6/1 First Goalscorer) the real familiar faces to British football fans. Elsewhere though they are full of European pedigree and there is a core of the unit from Czech champions Viktoria Plzen – who recently made it into this season’s Champions League.
Scotland recorded a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in Levein’s first game in charge back in March 2010, thanks to a goal from Scott Brown who will also start at Hampden on Saturday, and they need to go out confident in search of another victory (5/1 Scotland 1-0 Correct Score).
Nothing but a win for Scotland on Saturday, and also against Lithuania on Tuesday night, will be enough if they want to make the Euro 2012 play-offs. But Levein has a talented squad at his disposal and they should have enough to get wins in both games, especially as the Czechs are not the force they were in the days of Poborsky, Koller and Nedved.
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