WE WON'T NEED TO CHEAT TO BEAT YOU

LITHUANIA coach Algimantas Liubinskas last night claimed Scotland's thrashing of the Faroes Islands was merely a "training match" and insisted his team won't need to cheat to put a dent in Walter Smith's qualification hopes.

Liubinskas said Saturday's 6-0 win at Celtic Park pales into insignificance compared with his side's draw in Italy and predicted his team of heroes would go one better against the Scots today.

Scotland's last trip to Lithuania saw them lose to a controversial penalty and keeper Craig Gordon has hinted Smith's men may have to bend the rules if that's what it takes to gain three points.

But confident Liubinskas made it clear he is ready for whatever Scotland might throw at him and his players.

He said: "Scotland as a team are a headache for us but not individually. Their win over the Faroe Islands was like a training match. It was good for Scotland emotionally to win 6-0 but it was not a proper game. For us to draw with the world champs in Italy, that was a fantastic result. Probably our best ever.

"If Scotland are to do well in this group, they have a lot of hard work to do.

"We hope to play football. It is no concern to us that the Scottish players are talking about cheating."

Lithuania's preparation has been far from ideal.

Their flight back to Villnius from Italy was redirected to Warsaw because of fog and the players had to sleep on the floor of the airport for six hours before they could get home.

Liubinskas said: "It was not a great experience for us after such a great result.

"Everyone was very tired. However, the players have had time to recover."

Lithuania's one doubt is Hearts' Deividas Cesnauskis who, according to his coach, has been suffering from a virus since before his club's match with AEK Athens in Europe.

Taken from the Daily Record