Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee believes a victory against England on Saturday would be remembered as one of the best results in the nation’s history.
Scotland will put themselves firmly back in the mix to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in Russia by defeating their arch rivals, who lead qualifying Group F and are six points ahead of Gordon Strachan’s men.
Scotland have enjoyed several memorable moments against their rivals, most famously in 1967 when their 3-2 victory at Wembley inflicted a first defeat on England since they won the World Cup the previous year.
Former Aberdeen attacker McGhee has also enjoyed success against England, netting in a 1-1 home draw in the final home internationals match between the two sides in 1984.
Given the strength at England manager Gareth Southgate’s disposal, McGhee believes a victory on Saturday would rank firmly among Scotland’s most significant results.
McGhee said: “England have great players, really top players. They are in danger of soon becoming a good team under Gareth.
“For us to beat even this team even at this stage of their evolution would be a great result. I think in terms of us getting back in the competition it would rank with Cardiff in 1985, when we drew 1-1 with Wales to qualify for the World Cup finals in Mexico, and other games like that.
“People need to be reminded of my goal against England. If one of these guys gets the winner people will always remember it.
“England are becoming a great team. We know the strengths of the individual players. We don’t know the nature of their joint performance.
“A lot of our boys are familiar with their players and there is no mystery. Some of our boys who have played them will have had good days against them, so it is not something they go into with any fear.
“We are playing a group of players who are good players, at a high level, but there is a performance within us, no doubt about it, that means we could get a result.”
Southgate took his players to a 48-hour Royal Marines boot camp last weekend but Scotland have kept their preparations normal, with McGhee revealing the players will be given today off.
“It is a long week. Gareth will have ideas on the type of work he has to do. Maybe some light relief.
“They have great players but they are not always a great team.
“We are giving the boys a day off. They have trained with such an intensity and that has been good to see, that they have the energy going into a game like this.”
