Gordon Strachan hopes that the biggest of football occasions will bring out the best of football performances from his Scotland team at Wembley tonight.
Not only are the usual domestic bragging rights of an Auld Enemy clash at stake, so too are World Cup points badly needed to resuscitate a qualifying campaign that is already in dire health, and the manager’s own job may also be on the line.
That’s quite a lot riding on one game.
This wasn’t the time for Strachan to be discussing his own career prospects, but he made no attempt to downplay the importance of the latest Battle of Britain.
“It really is a huge three points and it’s to get some respectability back because I felt we lost that in the last couple of games,” he said. “And a little bit of pride.
“It’s the one place you want to perform and put on a good show because there are so many people there.
“We’re doing it for the group, the people who have travelled, anybody who has tapped us on the shoulder and wished us good luck and anyone who wants us to win. We’re doing it for them.
“It’s huge. Absolutely. It’s a huge game. We can’t beat about the bush on this one.”
Strachan liked what he saw from his team three years ago when Scotland and England last met at Wembley.
The match ended in a 3-2 defeat and it won’t be the same line-up. But it gives him encouragement for the type of response he will see when pressure is at its highest once more.
“I thought it was a terrific game of football,” Strachan said. “There was a point when we got to 2-2 that I thought we were going to go on and win the game and I want to get to that point again.
“Get to that point then take it from there.”
He added: “It’s like any sport when you get the big occasions. You can get world records when the adrenaline drives you to somewhere else.
“It’s similar to when I was with Celtic. That atmosphere drove people on to get unbelievable results that you really shouldn’t get.
“We’re hoping that will work for us tomorrow.
“Obviously we’ve got a plan. We won’t just chuck everybody out, wish them all the best and say ‘go well’.
“I’ve played in a Scotland- England game where people have gone about booting people so the crowd think that’s great. And clapped them when they’ve got sent off. I’ve seen people trying to endear themselves to the crowd in different places, crashing into tackles and losing focus. That’s no good to anybody.
“You have to stick to the plan and within the plan be who you are and use the emotion.
“If you are feeling stressed, run faster, jump higher, concentrate more. Be braver.”
There have been pot shots from outside the camp this week but, to a man, Strachan’s players have spoken about their determination to win for him.
The mutual admiration goes both ways.
“I am really proud of them,” Strachan said. “When I started off four years ago I was cynical about how a Scotland manager could go.
“Suddenly they have all become part of life, the Strachan household and things like that, talking to them and getting to know everything about them. I get them at their best.
“If you gave me this group of lads and said you can go home at 2 o’clock every day, you don’t have to do a press conference.
“You don’t have to deal with chief executive, columnists, you name it. Then it would be wonderful. What a lifestyle I would have. Unfortunately you have to do the rest that goes with it.
“But I have got to say that I don’t think as a group they could have tried any harder. Some people might think this one should be playing or that one should be playing but as a group they have never let each other down.”
Strachan, who has all his players fit and available for selection, doesn’t see any point in speculating whether playing England with a manager who only has one game to his name and hasn’t yet been appointed permanently is a positive for Scotland.
“This is the time we are playing England,” he said. “We have to get on with it.
“I would love to sit here and ramble on about whether this was a good time, but does anybody really know?
“I don’t think we know.”
There will certainly be no inferiority complex.
“Tomorrow we go on the pitch and we genuinely believe that we are as good as the team as we’re playing against,” Strachan insisted. “That’s for sure. Absolutely.”
