Scotland need ‘something special’ at Wembley, says Colin Hendry

Colin Hendry believes Scotland have to “play well beyond themselves” to beat England at Wembley.

The Scots lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic in their European Championship opener at Hampden to leave them facing an uphill battle to get out of Group D ahead of Friday’s clash with Gareth Southgate’s team.

Hendry, a veteran of Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, led Scotland to their last victory over England, at Wembley in 1999.

And he feels the current crop of international players will need to produce their top performances to repeat the feat.

Speaking at an Irn-Bru event in Glasgow, the 55-year-old told the PA news agency: “For Scotland to win on Friday, you need all the players to play well beyond themselves.

“When you look at the success of a lot of different teams at times, not just international but domestic, players as individuals have to play beyond themselves. Not play within that comfort zone.

“You have to go and do something a bit more special.

“We have some really good footballers in our team who have achieved great achievements. Kieran Tierney is absolutely ripping it up at Arsenal, John McGinn is a massive player for Aston Villa, you have Andy Robertson, of course, who has won the Premier League and the Champions League, and Scott McTominay was star man for Manchester United in the Europa League final against Villarreal although they lost.

“It is not unlike what we had in 1996 and 1998.”

Hendry, who will be in London on Friday to hand out ‘lucky pants’ emblazoned with the Irn-Bru logo to the Tartan Army, added: “We can’t lose on Friday, that is the most important thing. We could draw on Friday, beat Croatia and go through on four points but we can’t talk about Croatia, it is all about Friday night.

“I still think we have to go to Wembley on Friday night and get something from the game, we can’t leave empty handed.

“Just don’t get beat, that’s the thing and that would take us to the Croatia game and we will take it from there.”

The former Blackburn and Rangers defender was in Glasgow for the Czech Republic game which, after a 23-year wait for Scotland to get back to the  big stage, deflated the Tartan Army.

“I was on the radio as a pundit and people were calling in saying the team let everyone down and stuff,” he said. “They haven’t let anyone down. The difference was in the finishing.

“The second goal is almost certainly going to be the goal of the tournament. The first goal, it was maybe a wee bit disappointing not getting a challenge in on Schick but I am nit-picking.

“We had chances, which was great to see, but we just couldn’t bury them. It was always a problem for Scotland, a long-standing issue, they are not prolific, certainly in tournaments.

“That was the one game we really had to get  something from because the next game is such a massive game of football, for anyone involved with Scotland or England.

“Getting into third place is still a possibility.”