PEST TEAM WON

PAUL HARTLEY revealed Walter Smith sent his Scots terriers out to snap at the heels of France and break their hearts.

The plan worked. The aristocrats had their egos chopped off in the Hampden guillotine and Hartley admits the enormity of Scotland's achievement will take a long time to register fully.

But he swears when he steps off the plane in Ukraine tonight his feet will be planted firmly on the ground. There's work to be done in Kiev on Wednesday and another Smith masterplan to be followed.

Hartley said: "The manager got the tactics spot on against France. For a couple of days before the game we worked on a shape with James McFadden up front on his own with a five-man defence and four in midfield and it worked a treat.

"The manager told us we could expect to be on the back foot against a side of France's quality with world-class players throughout their ranks but we defended brilliantly. The most important thing is that we worked as a team.

"You could tell as the game went on just how frustrated France were becoming and we restricted them to just a couple of chances.

"The difference was that when we got our chance we took it. You see a lot of the sides in the Premiership giving Henry so much time on the ball but we were right in the faces of the French and they were totally frustrated."

The Tartan Army were starved of success for so long they will trumpet the 1-0 win over France like no other.

As a result, the weight of expectation piled on Hartley and his team-mates is enormous but he refuses to surf the wave of euphoria and insists it is too early to bang the drum about European Championship qualification.

He said: "This is the best game I've played in. The Press will have us having winning Euro 2008 after this but it's important we keep our feet on the ground even though we've made a fantastic start.

"We're sitting at the top of the group which isn't something we've been able to say for a long time.

"The start doesn't get any better than the one we've made and if we get something against Ukraine it will be great.

"We didn't expect to be in this position and we believed two points from the two games would have been great but we have three already so that's even better.

"To beat a team of France's quality is outstanding and it hasn't sunk in yet. When you play a team such as them you know you will be on the back foot so it's all about working hard and we had to ride our luck at times.

"In the second half we got it together more and started to make passes and create chances so it's a fantastic feeling.

"We always knew going into the game France would have the ball for most of the game and when we had the ball we didn't I keep it as well as we could have.

"But we spoke at half-time and kept the ball much better in the second half.

"I have played a few positions in my time as a Scotland player but I couldn't care less where I'm put because I just love playing for my country."

Hartley thanked the Tartan Army for willing the Scots to victory. He said: "The fans were fantastic and gave us their backing from beginning to end and we needed that. It was so important.

"Even though there were times when we were really sloppy in possession the fans stayed right behind us and it's a great result for them."

Suspension will stop Christian Dailly taking his place against Ukraine and Hartley lamented the loss of his team-mate, but he is confident the unity in the squad will makeup for his absence.

The Hearts star was also delighted with the display of skipper Barry Ferguson who he believes delivered a display which silenced his doubters.

He said: "We will have to play without Christian on Wednesday which is bad news but it was so important we worked our socks off in the middle of the park. Even when Gary Teale came on he did the same so it's important we keep everyone together.

"Barry was different class against the French-he's taken a lot of stick over the past few weeks but showed with his performance just, how good a player he really is."

Taken from the Daily Record