Attack will be the best form of defence

Published on Friday 8 October 2004 11:48

GARY CALDWELL today claimed Scotland’s strikeforce can help stifle the goal threat of towering Norwegian hitman John Carew.

The Besiktas striker is the biggest threat to Berti Vogts’ threadbare defence but Hibs star Caldwell believes the danger Carew poses can be nullified by stifling the supply lines to him.

And Caldwell was adamant the adage that teams defend from the front must be the case if the Scots are to the Norwegians with just one point from their opening three World Cup qualifying matches.

He said: "All teams who have big target men will get the ball up the park to him as early as they can and then play off him.

"So it will be up to the guys who play up front to press their full-backs and prevent them getting their heads up to play good balls up to him. They will have a big job of stopping them as much as the players at the back, it’s very much a case of cutting off the source rather than stopping him."

Vogts’ defensive blueprint was destroyed when Hearts skipper Steven Pressley was forced to withdraw from tomorrow’s match and next Wednesday’s trip to Moldova with the virus which has been plaguing him for some time.

Fielding the Tynecastle pairing of Pressley and Andy Webster had seemed the obvious choice for the coach who was already without defenders Christian Dailly, Malky Mackay and Jackie McNamara, a situation which resulted in Vogts calling in Caldwell’s brother Steven so raising the prospect of the Stirling boys playing together at full international level for the first time.

Gary admitted it would be a dream come true for his entire family - but he also revealed he’d be delighted if Vogts asked him to team up with Easter Road pal Ian Murray in central defence.

The two have formed a formidable partnership since midfield ace Murray returned from ten months out to solve a defensive crisis for Hibs boss Tony Mowbray, who had Colin Murdock, Gary Smith and Jonathan Baillie all on the injured list.

Hibs have been unbeaten in the five matches Caldwell and Murray have played together, stretching the team’s run of games without defeat to seven.

And while Vogts may look upon it as something of a risk to test that club pairing at international level, Caldwell insisted he and Murray would be happy if the coach decided to take that gamble.

He said: "Ian is a good player who can play in a number of positions as he has proved by stepping in at centre-half after ten months out. He’s played five games since his return and we’ve not been beaten which shows what a good player he is and why he deserves to be in the Scottish set-up.

"We have shored up the defence at Hibs and we know each other’s game well."

Although Caldwell will earn his 12th Scotland cap tomorrow, he believes his international credentials have brightened since Mowbray became manager at Easter Road, insisting his game has improved under the guidance of the former Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town centre-half.

He said: "Tony Mowbray has been fantastic for me. My performances at the start of the season were not great if I am being honest and that was due to the fact I hadn’t played centre-half for a long time.

"I needed to get a run of games in that position. He stuck by me, told me things to do and in the last few weeks I’ve felt the benefit, I feel great." And Caldwell certainly feels more at ease as an international football player than he did when he took part in Vogts’ first game in charge of Scotland, suffering a 5-0 mauling by then world champions France at the Stade de France in Paris.

He said: "I think it might have come too soon for me. I was delighted to be playing, it was a good experience but now I feel part of it all. Then I was just a young boy learning my trade." Caldwell’s versatility has been a factor in his international career, the 22-year-old having played centre-half, right-back and a holding role in midfield for Scotland although tomorrow he is more likely to be utilised on the right side of the back four.

Like most players, Caldwell insists he’d be happy to play anywhere just to pull on a dark blue jersey and while three points would make him even happier, he shares Vogts’ view that tomorrow’s match does not represent a "must win" game for Scotland.

He said: "It would be great if we did win but I don’t think we have to win. As long as we are not beaten that would be a massive step forward in the qualifying.

"Home games are important, but sometimes it can be easier playing away from home because there isn’t the pressure on you from people saying you must win.

"I think it would be fine if we were to get four points from these two games, that would put us second in the group. It is the sort of group where everyone will be taking points off each other.

"The Italians have got off to a good start and look strong but with us drawing with Slovenia and Norway doing likewise with Belarus, I think we’ll find a lot of teams dropping points to each other which will make it easier in the long-run to get second place."

Caldwell is expecting nothing less than a hard-fought match against the Norwegians, but he insisted Liverpool star John Arne Riise’s prediction that it will be "a war" was downright stupid.

He said: "When you look at the world today it is not going to be anything like that. It will be a competitive football match that both teams want to win. We will be aggressive and try to get in about them, but to call it a war is stupid.

"We are at our best when we get about teams but we also have to try to do a bit more going forward and to get some goals."