We will go to Wembley thinking we have nothing to lose, say defiant Caithness members of Tartan Army
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Caithness members of the Tartan Army have sent out a defiant message about Scotland's European Championship prospects ahead of the potentially make-or-break clash with the Auld Enemy in London.
The Scots face an uphill battle to qualify from Group D following their defeat to the Czech Republic at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Monday. Now they need to take something from Friday's eagerly awaited match against England at Wembley before facing Croatia in their final group game at Hampden on Tuesday.
“We will now go to Wembley thinking we have nothing to lose," supporter Martin Nicolson declared.
“England will think they'll have an easy game. We'll show them that a wounded dog is the worst thing you can ever go against."
Martin (51) is part of a group from Thurso-based Top Joe's Tartan Army who are supporting Scotland at the delayed Euro 2020 finals. The fans were given a rousing send-off on Sunday from the Northern Sands Hotel in Dunnet, which Martin owns, at the start of their 1500-mile journey.
They are travelling in a motorhome customised with Scotland flags and Tartan Army slogans.
Hopes were high going into Monday's match but the Czechs won 2-0, with both goals coming from Patrik Schick either side of half-time – a header followed by a spectacular strike from near the halfway line.
“We were hit by a sucker punch for the first goal and then a shot that he could try 50 times and it will never happen again," Martin said. "It was a tremendous shot.
“It was disappointing, but I felt Scotland did enough to show that we could have won that game.
"We have reason for optimism. It was a poor result but we can do it.
“We can get a result against England, we can get a result against Croatia, we can still qualify.
“We're looking forward to the trip to London and looking forward to the trip back up to Glasgow.
“We maybe won't be group winners, but we can get second or third place. As a nation, we can do it.”
Attendances are restricted because of Covid-19 rules but Martin is among those who have secured tickets for all three of Scotland's group matches after building up loyalty points through following the team home and away.
It is the first time the national men's side has qualified for the finals of a major tournament in 23 years. Martin has supported Scotland at two World Cup tournaments – in Italy in 1990 and France in 1998 – but this is his first European Championship.
David Farquhar, Ally Webster, piper Bob Bell and driver Joe Wright made up the rest of the advance party setting off from Dunnet on Sunday morning. Their first stop was Thurso to collect another fan, Adie Forbes, and they were planning to pick up fellow Top Joe's Tartan Army members Scott Bell, Lee Durrant, Ewan Scott, Neil Smith and Darren Oag at various points along the way.
Martin pointed out: “Lee is an English lad but he's going to be forced to wear a kilt if he's coming with us.”
He added: “I'd like to mention the guys that are left behind and who never got to go due to the lack of points. We're all one family and normally there are 40 of us that go off.”
Bob Bell (34) gave a fine rendition of Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes before getting on board the motorhome.
Originally from Thurso, he was a member of the town's pipe band from 2003 to 2007 and is now living in Aberdeen.
“I was in primary school the last time we qualified for a tournament," Bob said. "It has been long, it has been hard, it has been turbulent, and there have been times when we thought we would never qualify for a tournament again.
“We've never lost to Croatia and we can go down there to Wembley and give England a game.”
