Wales

This was always going to be a vital match for Wales as they look to develop under new boss Coleman and a clash with their Celtic rivals will show just how they are progressing.

A 2-0 home defeat to Belgium and a 6-1 thrashing away to Serbia was not the ideal start but those two nations are arguably the strongest in a tough group and may well qualify for the finals in Brazil.

Scotland have not exactly been pulling up any trees themselves and, with two draws from their opening two games, will also have their work cut out to reach the South American showpiece.

A game between any of the home nations is always a feisty affair and this one should be no different, with vital points and bragging rights on offer.

It could be argued that the Welsh have nothing to lose as they are not expected to make it out of the group and victory over the Scots and Macedonia might be as good as it could get for the Principality outfit, with Croatia completing a formidable looking group (Belgium 6/4fav – Group A Winner).

Wales have clearly got problems in front of goal and a return of just one from their last five games must be a worry for the management.

Assistant coach John Hartson has played down the fact that their last goal in open play came nearly a year ago, suggesting that he would be more worried if they were not creating chances.

But the game is about putting the ball in the back of the net and unless they can find someone to do it on a regular basis, Wales are always going to struggle.

The men in red do have one ace in the pack in Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and reports claim that the left winger will shake off a heel problem to take his place in the starting line-up, while full-back Adam Matthews has also been tipped to recover in time to play.

But Coleman does have a number of absentees to deal with as Craig Bellamy, Neil Taylor, James Collins and Jack Collison are all missing.

A football nation the size of Wales can ill-afford to have too many of its best players absent and they will be up against it on Friday.

But they do have a decent record in this fixture as Scotland’s victory in the Carling Nations Cup in Dublin back in May 2011 was the first time they had triumphed over the Welsh since February 1984.

Of the two mangers on show, Craig Levein is possibly under the greater pressure as expectation north of the border is always huge despite the resources available to the coach.

Wales goalkeeper Jason Brown alluded to the fact that Levein’s decision to recall Steven Fletcher proves the stress that he is under to get results – and he has a valid point.

Fletcher had been in the international wilderness for 18 months, after making himself unavailable for a match with Northern Ireland in early 2011, but will be back in the starting line-up in Cardiff on Friday as Levein knows he can bring goals to the party.

And the Scots certainly need his goalscoring prowess in the side as they have found the net just once in their first two qualification games.

Levein will also have to cope with a few missing stars after Jordan Rhodes and Robert Snodgrass were forced to withdraw through injury, while Grant Hanley pulled out on Monday.

Celtic winger Kris Commons has been called up to the squad having not played for the national side for more than a year, while striker Steven Naismith will miss the match and Tuesday’s clash with Belgium because of suspension.

Having been placed in such a strong group, it always looked likely that the British sides would have to play out of their skin to qualify for the World Cup, but victory over one of the great rivals would at least give both Scotland and Wales something to cheer about.

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Scotland

Manager Craig Levein is under immense pressure to guide the Scots to Brazil in 2014 and getting off to a good start is a must. Against an under-strength Serbia three points look entirely possible and home advantage could make the difference for an improving Scotland.

Scotland v Serbia 3pm

Group A is likely to be one of the most competitive groups on the road to Brazil, with Belgium, Croatia, Scotland, Serbia and Wales all having realistic dreams of making it to South America. Scotland are 18/1 to win the group, while Serbia are second-favourites at 9/4 to finish in top spot.

The price for the Serbs is surprisingly short considering they finished behind Estonia when missing out on qualification for Euro 2012 as they crawled over the line. Sinica Mihajlovic’s men have won just one of the last ten matches and were far from impressive during their goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland in their last friendly outing.

The Serbs bring a predominantly inexperienced squad to Scotland this weekend, with captain Branislav Ivanovic the most experienced of the group with 52 caps to his name. Defensively, Mihajlovic’s team look strong, with Ivanovic, Neven Subotic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Manchester City new boy Matija Nastasic providing a formidable barrier for the Scots to get over.

Up front, however, the Serbs do not look a massive threat and given the Scots historically goal-shy nature under 2.5 goals at 4/7 could be a safe bet. The Serbs are likely to try and frustrate Scotland, and it will be up to Levein’s boys to take the game to the Eastern Europeans.

In the build-up to the game, Levein has stated that he feels Scotland are in a much better position to qualify for a major tournament than they have been for several years. The former Dundee United boss will now have to back up his words, starting on Saturday.

Whereas Scotland have historically lacked creativity, they now look to have a squad capable of creating the chances the likes of Jordan Rhodes, Steven Naismith and Ross McCormack should thrive on. Robert Snodgrass, James Morrisson and Charlie Adam will look to unlock the Serbia defence, while the pace of Matt Philips and James Forrest will give this weekend’s opposition plenty to think about.

Levein does appear to have plenty of options within his squad now and while, like Serbia, a lot of his players lack international experience, they look to have the talent to make the step up.

Scotland are 8/5 to win, with the draw 9/4 and the Serbs 15/8. The odds suggest it will be a close on to call but with the Hampden roar behind them, the Scots should come through this one with three points to show for their efforts.

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Craig Levein’s side looked as if they were on course for a crucial victory against the Czechs but a questionable penalty awarded by referee Kevin Blom following Jan Resek’s tumble in the box gave Michal Kadlec a chance to level the scores, handing Michal Bilek’s side a point.

To add further insult to injury, the Scots themselves were denied a spot-kick in the closing minutes leaving them bitterly frustrated. The Tartan Army will be hoping Darren Fletcher and his men can channel this anger in a positive manner and get the three points required against an improving Lithuanian side.

Fletcher will undoubtedly be one of the Scot’s key players, driving the team forwards and doing all he can to ensure the victory. The Manchester United man was much derided during the early stages of his career but is now seen as one of the nation’s premier midfielders and with both Charlie Adam and Scott Brown missing through injury and suspension respectively, Fletcher will be looking for a big performance.

Scotland will also be without star striker Kenny Miller who is banned following his yellow card at the weekend meaning Blackburn’s David Goodwillie (4/1 first goalscorer) is likely to be the man charged with leading the line for Levein’s side. The former Dundee United forward has only played once for his country but has the talent to fire them to victory on Tuesday night.

After a decent start to their qualifying campaign, which included an away victory against the Czechs, Lithuania’s (11/2 for the win) form has hit the skids in recent times and their last two fixtures have seen them pick up just a point from two games against minnows Lichtenstein.

Their most notable player is surely Hearts winger Arvydas Novikovas who has been one of the SPL’s brightest stars for the last few seasons. The left-footer has both pace and ability and could cause the Scottish rearguard some major problems.

Another name to lookout for is the skipper Tomas Danilevicuis (7/1 first goalscorer) who despite his age, still has an eye for goal and will be looking to make an impact in what could be one of his final matches for his country.

Following their encouraging performance on Saturday, the Scots will be expecting a comfortable win against the eastern Europeans and will be doing all they can to close the gap on the Czechs going into the final two games of qualifying.

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Peter Houston

The Scotland assistant boss admitted that the squad was disappointed with the result but believed that the side was “unlucky to lose to a goal from a set play”. He also stressed that his players had “worked their socks off” in the hope of getting a result.

The Scotland manager Craig Levein was heavily criticised for the negative approach in Prague, where he adopted a 4-6-0 formation in the hope of picking up a point. The plan backfired when the Czechs scored the only goal of the game in the 70th minute but Houston stressed that he thought Scotland were unfortunate in defeat.

He highlighted the fact that the Scots rarely concede a goal from a set play but also stressed that the game is now “over and done with” and that he is looking forward to facing world champions Spain at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening (Scotland 13/2, draw 10/3, Spain 1/3).

Defending Levein’s tactics, he said: “The only regret we’ve got is that we’ve lost the game. It’s over and done with now, we can’t look back, we’ve got to look forward and what a way to look forward – playing Spain at Hampden.

“We’ve got to put that to bed and start to think positively and take something from that match.

“We are keen to play the world champions in what will be a difficult game. Footballers like to play at the top level and nobody is better than the world champions.”

Scotland have four major doubts ahead of the clash, with Tottenham defender Alan Hutton, Wigan centre-back Gary Caldwell, West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans and Rangers utility man Steven Whittaker all missing Sunday’s training session.

However, Houston has admitted “the majority, if not all” would be available for selection on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Scotland were handed a boost when Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher was fit to train after suffering a knock against the Czechs.

Caldwell participated in Prague for 75 minutes and Houston has not dismissed the possibility of him making back-to-back appearances. If he does, it will be a major achievement as Friday was his first action for club or country this season following a hip operation.

Speaking about Caldwell, Houston stressed: “He has been feeling good, he knows he’s been out for a while but nobody knows his body better than himself, and he was keen to do something today and he’s putting himself up for selection.”

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Former Celtic defender Caddis wants to secure a place at next summer’s finals in the next few days when Scotland tackle Iceland home and away with the return leg at Easter Road on Monday.

Billy Stark’s side finished top of Group 10 thanks to a last-gasp winner from Chris Maguire which ensured victory over Austria at Pittodrie last month.

Caddis and his team-mates were relieved to miss Spain and England in the play-off draw, but he acknowledges that Iceland will be up for the match and likely to provide a stern test.

“I hope the nation doesn’t think that because we are playing against Iceland, that it’s an easy game and we are just going to go through,” he told the Daily Record.

“They deserve to be there as much as we do and if people have been following the under-21s they will see that Iceland drew 2-2 in Germany and then beat them 4-1.

“So they are no pushovers.

“I hear that Iceland are bringing a lot of players back from their senior team which shows a bit of respect for us.

“But no matter which 11 they put out, we know they are going to be a really good side and tough to break down.

“We need to, first and foremost, not concede.”

Iceland have called up seven players who would have otherwise been in the senior side but will instead feature for the Under-21s, including Coventry midfielder Aron Gunnarson, Hoffenheim star Gylfi Sigurdsson and Hearts defender Eggert Jonsson.

Scotland are without suspended midfielder Paul Coutts for the first leg while striker James Forrest and defender Steven Saunders are injured.

But Stark is confident Scotland can keep the tie alive for Monday’s return match in Edinburgh.

He said: “We’re not a team who are set out particularly to defend. We take risks trying to score goals and I don’t see that changing. The way Iceland play it would be very difficult to dominate anyway because they put you under pressure quickly.

“We couldn’t have a tougher match.”

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