Scotland Under-21s hope to use air miles for Euros trip

Before the Scotland under-21 squad took to the air, a few of them took to Twitter.

The dispatches did not appear immediately enlightening – "Flying to London tonight then Austria tomorrow" was the gist of it – if only because 140 characters hardly seems sufficient to detail the journey Billy Stark's side have taken to get to this point. Neither how onerous the path to the European Championships could still prove to be.

The young Scots have just one match left to play in their qualifying campaign, away to Austria tonight. A 3-0 win at home to Luxembourg last week has imbued the squad with a sense of confidence and adventure but they will be acutely aware, too, that failing to claim a further three points in Altach may ground any plans they have to get on to the plane to the finals in Israel next year.

Stark's side can advance no further than second place in Group 10 – the Netherlands are confirmed winners of the group – but it is only the four best runners-up that will be granted passage to the play-offs.

There will be a notable sense of trepidation among the side tonight then as nothing less than victory will do if they are to have a realistic chance of making it to Israel. The Scots go into the final game with 13 points, the same tally as the second-placed teams in three other groups. Other second-placed teams Armenia and Portugal have 14 but face difficult away fixtures, while Norway already have 16 but are away to England. Switzerland have 14 and are at home against Estonia. Slovakia are on only 12 points while Turkey have 15 but their campaign has already come to an end.

Stark has led his side to an unbeaten campaign thus far – and a win away against the Dutch – but a series of four drawn matches has still left them with a more modest haul of points than the manager will have hoped for. The calculations are not lost on his squad, either.

"We've got one game left and it would be really disappointing if we didn't manage to get in the play-offs, the way we have performed throughout the campaign," said Johnny Russell, the Dundee United striker. "There's no point putting in all that effort and you have nothing to show for it."

Russell may well feel there is greater pressure bestowed on him to find a route past the Austrian defence tonight given how he has started the domestic campaign, not to mention the promotion of top scorer Jordan Rhodes into the senior squad. Injury to Gary Mackay-Steven, the United winger, and an illness contracted by Leigh Griffiths, the Hibernian striker, have also left Stark short of experienced options in attack.

Capable of rude skill and an impertinent swagger on the pitch, Russell is not unduly perturbed by the expectation. "We are confident. Even against Austria at home we had a few chances and felt we could have gone on and won it," he said. "We have to win there so that's exactly what we'll be aiming to do. We will be going over there attacking and to get ourselves into the play-offs."

His experience of international football will be integral to Stark but he may also seek to draw on the enthusiasm and form of Celtic's Tony Watt. Fresh from making a name for himself with his club, the young striker added a goal for his country to his growing list of achievements by converting from the penalty spot against Luxembourg. "It's great credit to the lads that the boys that we have lost, the other boys can step in," said Watt. "We've got a great squad with great players. We always knew it was going to be difficult and players were going to miss out. It's credit to everyone that has stepped in, they have been brilliant."

Taken from the Herald