Scotland v Gibraltar: Wilson out to dent countrymen´s hopes

Scotland take on Gibraltar at Hampden Park on Sunday with one of their countrymen attempting to dent their hopes of qualification for Euro 2016.

Gordon Strachan’s side sit third in Group D having taken seven points from four games, with their only defeat coming at the hands of world champions Germany.

They will be heavy favourites to boost their qualification prospects with a comfortable triumph over the team from the British-ruled Iberian peninsula – who are taking part in their first qualifying campaign following acceptance by UEFA in May 2013.

Gibraltar sacked coach Allen Bula earlier in the month, with Scotsman David Wilson stepping into the breach in the interim.

Wilson takes charge of a side who are yet to score in four qualifying games, conceding 21 in the process, but he is keen to frustrate his home nation.

“We’ve asked the groundsmen to plough a potato field and then we’re going to park a bus in front of that,” Wilson joked in quotes reported by Sky Sports.

“We’re going to try to frustrate them, as we’ve done on numerous occasions against some of the big teams.

“It’s worth remembering that we are a new team coming through. We’re going to make mistakes and it’s going to take us a little bit of time to get that momentum. We have to take it bit by bit and see where that leads us.

“The players deserve a goal. It’d be a dream for me if we did it in Scotland. For us to score at Hampden, that’ll be a knee slide for sure on the pitch.”

Asked if he would sing both national anthems, Wilson added: “I might not sing the Scottish one as loud as I used to, but the words will come out.

“I don’t think there’s a Scotsman in the world who would say when they hear Flower of Scotland, they won’t sing it.”

Scotland’s Darren Fletcher – who captained the side in the 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland on Wednesday – is keen not to get complacent over their qualification prospects.

“We have great confidence in ourselves and in the group but I have been in this position before with Scotland and we have not managed to see it over the line,” he said.

“Everything we have done up until now has been great but the hard work is still to come. You have to keep reiterating that. We have an important match on Sunday.

“Win that and that takes us into the qualifier in June [away to Republic of Ireland] which is going to be an important game but there is still a lot of work to do. 

“We have put ourselves in a great position but the hard work begins now and let’s see it out.”