Scotland face a daunting task in their upcoming Euro qualifier against Norway – stopping Manchester City sensation Erling Haaland from finding the back of the net.
But John Carver, the national team’s assistant manager, says Norway will also be worried about facing some of the Scots on the park, including John McGinn, Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor.
The Tartan Army are in a buoyant mood after Steve Clarke’s side defeated Cyprus and Spain in their opening two matches to top Group A with maximum points.
And a positive result on Saturday night in Oslo would be another huge step towards reaching Euro 2024 in Germany next summer.
The pressure is on for Norway, who only have one point after a defeat by Spain and a draw in Georgia in their opening matches.
But Haaland is in formidable form.
He has scored 52 goals in 52 games in all competitions this season – including 36 times in the Premier League, breaking the record for the most goals scored in one 38-game season.
“We know they’ve got some special players and they have also got some very good players, playing in good teams around Europe, so we know how difficult it is going to be,” said Carver.
“But they will be worried about John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor – we have a force that can be reckoned with and they will have seen that because they will have watched the Spain game and watched the Cyprus game, so they will realise that we have got some talent in our team.”
“Being top of the group is great – I mean, we haven’t won anything or achieved anything yet and it’s about where we are when we get to the halfway stage.
“If we can remain in those top two places we’ll be delighted. We’ve got two really tough games coming up, we’ve got a tough group to get out of but it certainly helps when you start like the way we did, getting six points in the first two games.”
Scotland’s campaign got off to the ideal start with a 3-0 win over Cyprus in late March, thanks to goals from McGinn and a late double from substitute McTominay.
That was followed up a couple of days later with a seismic result and performance against Spain at a raucous Hampden Park in the rain.
Another double from McTominay gave Scotland a famous 2-0 victory and put them in pole position in the group.
Carver said: “You cast your mind to that Spain game and what an atmosphere that was – that was something special.
“You can see the whole nation is behind the team now and the team are driving it.”
Clarke named his squad last month for the upcoming international window.
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his Hibernian counterpart Kevin Nisbet were both included after Stoke’s Jacob Brown and Che Adams of Southampton withdrew due to injury.
Rangers defender John Souttar was recalled after missing much of the season through injury and Blackburn centre-back Dom Hyam retained his place after earning a late call-up for the last camp in March.
Clarke opted for consistency in the goalkeeping department with Angus Gunn, Zander Clark and Liam Kelly again called up in the absence of Craig Gordon, who remains sidelined as he tries to fight back from a double leg-break sustained on Christmas Eve.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
