Smells like team spirit to Gordon

CRAIG GORDON insists that the 'all-for-one and one-for-all' attitude that saw Scotland put one over on France can work just as well against Ukraine tomorrow night.

The Hearts and Scotland goalkeeper today admitted Les Bleus are in a class of their own when it comes down to footballing skills and conceded they had been the better side at Hampden, despite shipping three points to Walter Smith's side.

Raymond Domenech's squad is jam-packed with superstars but Gordon put Saturday's win - courtesy of a goal from former Hibs defender Gary Caldwell - down to the fact that Scotland played as a unit and battled for one another and he's hoping that team spirit can help give them the edge in their next big test. The keeper, who flew out with the rest of the Scotland squad to Kiev yesterday, said: "I don't think we were the better team against France, but we were the better team unit and that won the day for us really.

"Once we got the goal it was a real backs-to-the-wall performance and everyone fought for one another. Hopefully we can go to Ukraine now and do the same thing.

"We will go into the game with Ukraine in a similar frame of mind as we did for the France game. We will try to defend well, limit them for opportunities and see if we can nick something."

Scotland head into that match in Kiev with nine points already in the bag when even seven had maybe been an optimistic target at the start of the campaign.

The Dark Blues are now one of just three countries in the competition to have a 100 per cent record but they face a tough task if they are to maintain that against Ukraine tomorrow. Christian Dailly is suspended after his caution against the French, while Aberdeen's Russell Anderson is out with the hip injury he picked up in the SPL to Rangers at the start of the month.

As a result, Hibs defender Steven Whittaker, 22, has been drafted into his first senior squad and he will come into the reckoning alongside Celtic striker Kenny Miller, below, who served a one-match ban in the win over France.

Gordon is confident that the Scots can take something from Ukraine to maintain their blistering start to the campaign but, following the euphoria of Hampden on Saturday, insists they still have to keep their feet on the ground, adding: "It's a great feeling to be top of Group B, it's a great start but we all know that we have still got a long way to go. We know what happened the last time, when we lost 6-0 to Holland just a few days after beating them at Hampden. We don't want that to happen again."

The Tartan Army played their past in Saturday's victory over the French superstars but if Scotland are to come away from Ukraine with something in the bag, they will have to do it in the hostile atmosphere of the Olympic Stadium.

More than 50,000 supporters are expected to turn out for the match and Gordon admitted that having the backing of your home crowd can make all the difference: "We lost five goals to France the last time we played them over there but it's always a different story when you are playing at Hampden because we've always got such a great crowd.

"They were fantastic throughout on Saturday, getting right behind the team and singing their songs, it really helped us in those closing stages."

Meanwhile, Graeme Alexander, who won his 25th cap - and resultant silver medal from the SFA - against France insisted that he and his team-mates must forget about Saturday's celebrations and focus on tomorrow night's match.

The defender didn't put a foot wrong against France in his unfamiliar role at left-back and he knows he will have to put in a similar shift against Oleg Blokhin's side.

He said: "I'm sure the victory over France will live long in the memory of everyone who was at the game but we know we've got Ukraine next and that's another massive game for us.

"Lithuania away was a hard game and to follow that up by playing France, well, you don't get much tougher than that.

"We've got maximum points so we've got to be happy but we've got to try to make sure we continue it. We'll keep our feet on the ground, the gaffer has said that while it is a great result, if we go to Ukraine and get thumped then it will more than take the shine off of things.

"We have got to set our stall out again when we go over there and hope that we do well.

"There's a bit of a gap now between ourselves and France in the table and that's a great feeling. Obviously it's still early days, but we really couldn't have wished for a better start."

Alexander has been impressed by the impact Smith has had on a Scotland side which struggled to gain credibility under Berti Vogts, adding: "That was the highlight of my career, I don't really think it has sunk in properly yet, you know, the fact that I got my 25th cap in a game like that. It was an amazing feeling.

"Walter's experience and calmness have been great.

"He has been talking to us all week, he knew that they were going to have the majority of possession - as they did against Italy - but you've just got to accept that and take your chance. Thankfully we managed to do that.

"The gaffer spoke to us in the week running up to the game and virtually told us how the game would go and he was right.

"We had a game plan - we maybe rode our luck a wee bit in the first half when they hit the post - but you need that.

"You are never going to outplay France, they're one of the best teams in the world right now.

"But, as a team I thought we did well, the back five, the midfield and Faddy up front on his own.

"It was an all-round team performance, everyone had a great game.

"Obviously in the last year or so we have come on a lot and grown in confidence.

"We created a couple of chances in the second half and we could maybe have scored a couple of goals.

"But it was a fantastic day all round and now we've got to try to follow that up with a similar performance against Ukraine."

Taken from the Scotsman