Football: Roxburgh puts faith in group practice

SCOTLAND will respectfully reject the advice of Bobby Robson, the former England manager, over the appropriate tactics for tonight's World Cup qualifier against Portugal at Ibrox, and in particular how to subdue Paulo Futre.

Robson, now coach to Sporting Lisbon, suggested that one player be assigned to shadow the elusive Futre, whose goals for Atletico Madrid destroyed Manchester United a year ago. He also indicated that the Portuguese might buckle in the face of a characteristically 'British' performance.

While grateful for any insights which may help the Scots record their first Group One victory, Andy Roxburgh is inclined to disregard both suggestions. 'Even with a dangerous individual like Gheorghe Hagi, of Romania, we've rarely gone in for strict man-marking,' the Scotland coach explained. 'We prefer to deal with it in a group sense, to mark tightly by areas rather than individuals.'

As for the idea of attempting to overpower their opponents - a policy which has served Scotland well before - Roxburgh is concerned that this would merely concede vital possession. 'There is no point in just lumping the ball in among them,' he said. 'It's more about being creative, trying to carve Portugal open rather than bludgeoning them with all we've got.'

All of which may of course be part of the cat-and-mouse game international managers play. According to Roxburgh, his Portuguese counterpart Carlos Queiroz 'knows everything about us'. He was attached to Scotland as Fifa's technical observer during the 1990 World Cup finals, and studied them during the European Championships as well as in last month's 3-1 defeat by Switzerland.

Since Queiroz knows so much, Roxburgh was asked, why not show confidence by naming your side? 'There is such a fine line between winning and losing that it's foolish to give anything away,' he replied. 'There's no doubt it is helpful if you know exactly the other team's line-up. But if we produce the quality we've shown in our good games, Carlos will be worried.'.

It may actually be to Scotland's advantage that suspension and injuries will force Roxburgh into changes. He must find a new partnership in central defence, where Derek Whyte and Craig Levein look to have the requisite mobility.

Then there is the question of whether to break up the midfield quartet which performed so creditably in Sweden yet so poorly in Berne. As Jock Stein once remarked, the players who command the grand stage are not necessarily those you would entrust to earn the right to strut it in the first place.

It may be tempting to recall John Collins, currently outstanding with Celtic, at the expense of Brian McClair, and to pair the predatory John Robertson rather than the pacey Kevin Gallacher with Ally McCoist up front.

Whoever he chooses, Scotland cannot afford to lose. Even with four-fifths of a 10-match series remaining, such a set-back would leave them facing an uphill struggle to qualify.

SCOTLAND (probable): Goram (Rangers); Boyd (Celtic), Levein (Heart of Midlothian), Whyte (Middlesbrough), Malpas (Dundee United), McAllister (Leeds), McCall (Rangers), McStay (capt), Collins (both Celtic), McCoist (Rangers), Robertson (Hearts).

PORTUGAL (probable): Vitor Baia; Fernando Couto (both Porto), Helder, Veloso (both Benfica), Joao Pinto (Porto), Oceano (Real Sociedad), Vitor Paneira (Benfica), Andre, Semedo (both Porto), Futre (Atletico Madrid), Domingos (Porto).