WALTER'S PUT PRIDE BACK IN OUR GAME NOW OUR EURO CLUBS MUST DO THE SAME

WALTER SMITH and his players have taken huge strides in the last 18 months to restore the reputation of Scotland at international level.

It's my sincere hope that Hearts, Rangers and Celtic can follow in those footsteps in the next few weeks and boost our Euro standing at club level to set up a cracking autumn of football.

Our international results are getting better all the time as we sit at the top of our European Championship section after our first two games.

Ofcourse, there is still a long way to go in the qualifying campaign but there's a new-found optimism at national level - and the Under-19s have also played their part by making the final of the European Championships earlier this summer.

If our clubs teams also do well it will be a further indication of a thriving Scottish scene and we're keen to play our part, starting tomorrow night in the first leg of our UEFA Cup tie against Sparta Prague.

Understandably, fans are partisan towards their own teams but for the sake of Scottish football I'm keen to see Celtic start their Champions League campaign tonight at Old Trafford with a terrific result against Manchester United.

Naturally, my mind will be far from Molde tomorrow night as we take on the Czechs at Murrayfield, but I'd love to see Rangers get a result that would take them a step closer to progress in the UEFA Cup.

Celtic are performing at the top tier and if Rangers and Hearts qualify for the group section of the UEFA Cup there is going to be an awful lot of quality football on show in Scotland between now and Christmas.

In addition, success at club level would also boost our national co-efficient and that will hopefully see even more Scottish clubs invited to the party in future seasons.

These games would bring a lot of excitement, put bums on seats and with the French due at Hampden on October 7 our game would be buzzing.

We hope to take a leaf from Walter's book in terms of the way Scotland approached their recent qualifiers against the Faroes and Lithuania. Sparta Prague are no Faroe Islands but Scotland started the game at Parkhead aggressively, failed to let them settle and scored early - we must look to do the same against the Czechs.

In Lithuania, Walter's tactics were again spot on as Scotland defended well and picked them off when they were given the chance and it's something we may have to do when we travel to Prague for the second leg in a fortnight.

We'll sit down in the hotel tonight and, after our own video analysis, watch Celtic play United. Am I jealous? Just a little.

The Champions League is top drawer and we would love to have been part of it, playing at arenas such as Old Trafford, but we aspire to get there as soon as possible.

The UEFA Cup is a very credible competition and I'm a big fan of the group format, which has already given Edinburgh the chance to host some terrific European names.

One tie played over two legs is cut throat but four games spread over home and away matches give players greater experience, as we found two years ago when we played in Rotterdam and Basel and hosted Schalke and Ferencvaros.

It's impossible to underestimate the value to players of playing at that level and guys such as Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley and Steven Pressley have used the lessons learned to good effect for club and country.

European football never becomes easy when you play it more often but when players grow familiar with travelling abroad and turning out against different opposition they relax, accept they belong at that level and good results inevitably follow.

However, let's not put the cart before the horse as we prepare to face Sparta, although we're more than capable of getting a result over two legs that will see us progress into the group stages. Valdas has watched them lose 3-0 recently and I took in their 2-0 victory at the weekend over Tescoma Zlin under new boss Michal Bilek.

They passed the ball well enough through the midfield in the first half of the game I watched but lacked a cutting edge.

However, Bilek changed the formation at the interval as they went long to towering striker Libor Dosek and it paid off as he scored twice within 11 minutes.

Sparta have confident, stubborn defenders such as former West Ham star Thomas Repka and skipper Tomas Sivok, who can also play in midfield.

Theleft-back, Michal Kadlec, who so interested Celtic in the summer, is pacy going forward and there are some useful midfield operators although, as I said, they lacked firepower in attack until Dosek came on.

We're mindful that, despite the new manager, there is a feeling within the Sparta camp they are not yet out of the woods after a disappointing start to the season by their own high standards.

We must look to exploit any anxiety early in the game if possible and prevent them getting a foot in the match, which would see their confidence grow.

In an ideal world we will pose questions of their defence, exploit any vulnerability they may feel and score early, but we had to wait until the second half to score three against Siroki Brijeg so we'll take a goal at any time.

However, one thing is for certain - a poor performance will not see us win the game and we must be prepared to give it our all.

We must also focus on selection issues as there are several players struggling with injury and Saulius Mikoliunas, Julien Brellier and Neil McCann are all suspended.

Self-inflicted suspensions have tested our squad to its limits already and the players must accept responsibility not to put themselves and their team-mates under additional pressure over the course of a demanding season.

However, the absence of three first-team regulars in midfield has also given guys such as Mirsad Beslija, Christos Karipidis and Lee Wallace the chance to stake their claim for a regular first-team place.

There is a feelgood factor swirling around the Scottish game at the moment and we hope it continues for a wee while yet, while blowing an ill wind at the UEFA Cup hopes of Sparta Prague.

Taken from the Daily Record