GORDON STRACHAN will kick off Scotland’s World Cup 2018 qualifying preparations with a double-header against Czech Republic and Denmark in March.
The Scots will travel to Prague on Thursday, March 24 to take on the European Championship-bound Czechs and then host Denmark five days later.
Former Celtic boss Strachan intends selecting two different squads for each match as he assesses the strength of his player pool.
He said: “It’s important that we use these two matches effectively and give opportunities to those who may not have had as many as they would have liked in the previous campaign.
“It also allows us the flexibility to take a look at some players who are emerging.
“We would all rather be using these matches to prepare for the Euros this summer, but we need to get over that disappointment collectively – coaches, players and supporters – and the best way to do that is to get together again and start planning for the World Cup qualifiers.”
The Czechs qualified for this summer’s Euro Finals in France as winners of their qualifying group which included Iceland, Turkey and Holland.
Denmark narrowly missed out on a place at this summer’s tournament following a play-off defeat to Mikael Lustig’s Sweden.
