‘CELTS HOLD THE KEY’ STUART McCALL

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STUART McCALL insists a trio of Celts could be Scotland’s key men against Poland.
The international coach reckons Scott Brown is playing the best football of his career, James Forrest is returning to form and Leigh Griffiths is a genuine goal threat.

McCall admits he would have no fear if all three were given the nod by Gordon Strachan to face the Poles in the crucial Euro 2016 qualifier at Hampden on Thursday night.

He said: “Scott has come in for, I won’t say criticism, but some people have been pointing the finger and saying he is not as good as he was last season.

“He has played a lot of football and has hardly had a break. Scott played for us against Ireland in June and then was back in few weeks playing European games.

“However, he was back to his imposing best the other night in the European game.

“We will need that from him because he has been key in all the good things we have done since Gordon came in. There is his drive.

“A lot has been said about Broony and he doesn’t even have to be playing at his best. His enthusiasm and infectiousness around the park can help others. It was good the other night to see him and it would have been good for him.

“He has been doing fine. He will have taken a lot from that having shown a lot of confidence by putting in that performance against good, international players.

“James Forrest is also playing very well and has been scoring goals. Leigh Griffiths has been scoring, but you look back and Steven Naismith got his hat-trick against Chelsea and is back in the side.”

Polish hitman Robert Lewandowski has scored 12 goals in his last four games for Bayern Munich, but McCall joked: “He’s drying up. Five the other week, two at the weekend. By the time he gets to us….

“We are not going to build him up. We know he is a world class player, I don’t think there is any doubt in that. In the game in Poland we dealt with him reasonably well.

“When you are up against a player such as Lewandowski you know in a split second that he can do something.

“So, you look at cutting off the supply and also don’t over-think about him. Although it would be silly not to be aware of the threat he can pose.

“However, between now and the game, we will be working on how we can hurt them. We have an idea of, hopefully, how to stop the service to him.

“But we will need to work on how we can create opportunities and maybe mix it up a little bit in the game.”

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