Euro Qualifier - Scotland v Lithuania - 8th Sept 07

[LAF]

Euro 2008 Qualifying Round - Group B
Scotland (5-0-2, 15 pts, 3rd place) v Lithuania (2-1-4) 7 pts, 5th)
Saturday, September 8, 2007, kick-off 1500 (BST)
Hampden Park, Glasgow



McLeish's Men March On

The change of manager at Scotland's helm has been seamless with Alex McLeish effortlessly picking up from where Walter Smith left off in January. Having played three qualifying fixtures since taking over, McLeish's men have continued their excellent work in this campaign - and enormous credit must go to the previous management regime of Smith, Ally McCoist and Tommy Burns - and kept the Dark Blues in the hunt for an unlikely qualifying position.

While nothing will be firmly decided over the next two round of fixtures, there will no doubt be a far clearer picture of the situation once next Wednesday's matches are done and dusted. However, in the meantime Scotland will be aiming for another big Hampden performance in what is a must-win game. There will come a point when the Scots need to take some points from France or Italy, however, failure to beat the lesser lights in the group will render any qualification hopes pointless.

This will be Scotland's first match at Hampden since McLeish's first match in charge back in March when Craig Beattie's last-minute goal gave Big Eck a winning start with a 2-1 win over Georgia.

State Of Play

With five games to go, Scotland lie in third place just a point behind Italy and three behind leaders France. The top two play each other on Saturday in Milan giving the Scots a chance to claw both teams back and possibly overtake world champions Italy into second place before facing the French next week.

Lithuania have two wins and a draw from their seven games so far and with an five-point gap between themselves and fourth-placed Ukraine, their aim must surely be to consolidate their current fifth spot. They take on the Faroe Islands – still without a point – next Wednesday.

Past Meetings

Having met earlier in the campaign, the two teams should be well-accustomed to each other. In September last year, Scotland came away from Kaunas with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Christian Dailly to Kenny Miller.

Prior to that, the teams had met four times, all of them coming in European Championship qualifiers with Scotland winning two of them (both coming at Hampden). The other two meetings ended in a goalless draw (September 1998) and a 1-0 win to Lithuania (April 2003).

TEAM NEWS

Scotland

Scotland are without suspended captain Barry Ferguson and the armband is likely to go to Davie Weir at centre-back. Ferguson, though, will return to face France in Paris next Wednesday. Striker Kenny Miller is missing with a hamstring injury along with Russell Anderson and Gary Naysmith. Derby County defender Jay McEveley will be handed Naysmith’s place at left-back.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Sunderland), David Marshall (Norwich City), Allan McGregor (Rangers)

Defenders: Graham Alexander (Preston North End), Gary Caldwell (Celtic), Alan Hutton (Rangers), Jay McEveley (Derby County), Stephen McManus (Celtic), David Weir (Rangers)

Midfielders: Scott Brown (Celtic), Barry Ferguson (Rangers) - suspended, Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Paul Hartley (Celtic), Lee McCulloch (Rangers), Stephen Pearson (Derby County), Barry Robson (Dundee United), Gary Teale (Derby County)

Forwards: Craig Beattie (West Bromwich Albion), Kris Boyd (Rangers), James McFadden (Everton), Shaun Maloney (Aston Villa), Garry O’Connor (Birmingham City)

Lithuania

Edgaras Jankauskas and Tomas Zvirgzdauskas both return to the fold after missing out last month’s friendly win over Turkmenistan. Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas is a surprise exclusion from the squad having performed consistently well in a struggling Hearts side in Scotland.

Squad:

Goalkeepers:Žydrunas Karcemarskas (Dinamo Moscow, Russia) Paulius Grybauskas (Otelul Galati, Romania) Saulius Klevinskas (FK Suduva, Lithuania)

Defenders: Andrius Skerla (FK Vetra, Latvia) Vidas Alunderis (Zaglebie Lubin, Poland) Marius Stankevicius (Brescia Calcio, Italy) Irmantas Zelmikas (Tavria Simferopol, Ukraine) Gediminas Paulauskas (FK Ekranas, Latvia) Arunas Klimavicius (Dinamo Moscow, Russia) Tomas Žvirgždauskas (Halmstads BK, Sweden)

Midfielders: Saulius Mikoliunas (Heart of Midlothian) Mindaugas Kalonas (Kuban Krasnodar, Russia) Deivydas Šemberas (CSKA Moscow, Russia) Igoris Morinas (Žalgiris Vilnius, Latvia) Kestutis Ivaškevicius (Heart of Midlothian) Aurimas Kucys (Daugava, Latvia) Deividas Cesnauskis (Heart of Midlothian) Audrius Kšanavicius (Heart of Midlothian)

Forwards: Tomas Radzinevicius (Dynamo Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic) Robertas Poškus (Rostov, Russia) Tomas Danilevicius (Bologna, Italy) Andrius Velicka (Heart of Midlothian) Edgaras Jankauskas (AEK Larnaca, Cyprus) Ricardas Beniušis (Heart of Midlothian)

PREDICTION

Scotland’s momentum in Group B and the chance to split France and Italy at the top of the section should be enough for the players to secure another vital three points.

Scotland 1 Lithuania 0

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - Euro Qualifying Preview: Scotland-Lithuania