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Scotland v USA: Strachan decides on a familiar feel

Steven Fletcher has impressed the national manager in the lead-up to tonight's match.
Steven Fletcher has impressed the national manager in the lead-up to tonight's match.

Steven Fletcher will lead the line tonight as Scotland try to keep the good times going against the United States at Hampden.

With the feelgood factor well and truly restored thanks to some fine results, culminated in the victory over Croatia last time out, the challenge in this friendly is to maintain the momentum.

Sunderland frontman Fletcher will be handed the responsibility of grabbing a goal or two, eight months after making his last appearance in a Scotland shirt.

That was on March 22 when he got injured and had to be replaced by Kenny Miller after only five minutes of that World Cup qualifier at the national stadium, which Scotland went on to lose 2-1 on a miserable snowbound night.

Asked if he will be tinkering with things this evening, manager Gordon Strachan confirmed: “There will be changes but not many because I do not think it is right to make wholesale changes.

“Maybe two or three places might be different.”

So does that mean he has decided to bring Fletcher back in?

“Yeah, I think when you see good players training, when you see class players training you have to consider them.

“Wherever Steven has been he made them a better side, be that Hibs, Burnley, Wolves or Sunderland.

“He had a terrific season last season for Sunderland until he got injured playing for us. So he has that quality to make a squad and a team better.

“It is great working with good players. I am fortunate that most of the time I have worked with right good players.

“It is fantastic as a coach to see really good players working. Steven has added to that here.

“You watch him in training and the way he comes to the ball, glides with the ball when he’s got it, he is comfortable with ball when it comes to him. It is great.”

The manager confirmed that Matt Phillips and Jordan Rhodes had left the Mar Hall training base, saying: “Jordan and Matty Phillips are away home. Matt felt his hamstring was tight earlier in the week and on Wednesday it got worse.

“As a precaution we just told him that was enough, get yourself back. It’s unfortunate because I wanted to see him,” said Strachan.

“But we will still make changes in both games without being ridiculous. I don’t think that’s any good for anyone. It’s not great when the players look around and they’re all new to each other.”

Strachan continued: “There is something we feel comfortable with but we might not always be able to do that for some reason or another.

“You don’t chop and change to take into account the other team too often there might be the odd occasion where they are so good that you might have to think about that.

“But it’s good that you have a kind of idea of how you’re going to play, so that when the players come here they know what they have to do, instead of starting all over again every time they get together.

“I think we just keep doing what we’re doing. The players are comfortable with what we’re doing but the system is only as good as how the players perform it.”

Strachan revealed that he has not seen the last game between the Americans and Scots in May 2012, when Craig Levein’s side were trounced 5-1 by the hosts in Jacksonville.

“I have never seen the game, never looked at it and have no interest in it,” he declared. “I asked one or two of the players if they had played in it and one or two kind of nodded.

“But this result will not determine progress made because you can’t match it against how the USA played and how we played.

“We will just look at what we have been doing in the past few months and compare it with that and see where we are going.”

USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann says he is “sad” that the Scots will not be joining the USA in Brazil for next year’s World Cup.

“It is sad to see that Scotland didn’t qualify because everybody wants to see Scotland in the World Cup, also because of their fantastic fans,” he said.

“They are known world wide. When you think of Scottish football, you think of the passion and players dedicated to the team with work rate and individual talent.

“They are always emotional, they give you everything they have, so this game is a good benchmark.”

The former Germany manager will read nothing into the 5-1 win over Scotland in their post-season friendly match in Jacksonville in 2012.

“It is a completely different game and we are well aware of that,” he said.

“Scotland did us a favour coming over after their season was over, in 95 degrees, and we knew it was going to be very difficult for us.

“We were on a totally different page then. We know that Scotland in any given moment, can score and can beat us.

“So we are going to be very alert.”