Stephen McManus and David Weir ready to shore up Scots backline in Lithuania

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 21:20

Scotland took off yesterday from Glasgow Airport and transported a cargo to Lithuania that can be considered rather more heavy-weight than when the team last took to the skies, for last month's friendly with Sweden.

• Scotland manager Craig Levein, left, and his assistant Peter Houston. Picture: SNS

Then a raft of calls-off severely restricted Craig Levein's ambitions. Yesterday afternoon, however, the manager and his assistant, Peter Houston, were glad to count onto the plane the likes of Graham Dorrans, Lee McCulloch and Alan Hutton ahead of tomorrow's European Championship qualifying opener against old foes Lithuania. All were unavailable for the 3-0 defeat to Sweden due to injury. Scott Brown was on the trip last time, but did not train or play. He has brought his boots this time, however.

Providing further reassurance was the sight of David Weir and Stephen McManus clambering on board. Both centre-halves were missing against Sweden and Scotland felt this absence of experience. Weir and McManus will likely occupy the twin berths in the middle of Levein's back four, the first time they have played together since what must rank as Scotland's last memorable performance, if not result. Both were in the side defeated 1-0 by the Netherlands a year ago. Houston enthused about their performances in training this week. He offered a stiff defence of Weir following some disparaging comments made by the Lithuanian manager Raimondas Zatautas, who at 37 is three years younger than the Rangers skipper. He suggested that his lack of pace could be exploited by his side. But Houston scoffed at this and revealed that the middle of defence looked the most robust part of the team in training, with Weir's positional understanding able to make up for any mobility issues that a man in his 41st year might be expected to have. Not that Weir, by his own admission, has ever relied on speed to any great extent. Even by the time the team boarded the plane yesterday Weir had been put through his paces.

Both Levein and Houston have offered the player the chance to take his foot off the pedal during training in a bid to keep him fresh for when the real business begins. Paul McGrath, the former Republic of Ireland centre-half, once sought to cope with the wear and tear in his knees by sitting out of training between matches.

But Weir is in many ways different to McGrath, although their passion for keeping the ball away from their own goalmouth is one common trait. "We've been doing double sessions and we've asked Davie what he wants to do," said Houston. "He doesn't want to miss training. He wants to do it all.

"We were defending set-plays, wide areas and free-kicks," continued Houston. "The ball was like a magnet to his head. Everyball seemed to go straight to Davie's head. Big Mick McManus was the same. At St Mirren Park the manager worked on the back four. We worked with all six or seven defenders we have. We worked on dealing with waves of attack against them.

"We noticed things in the Sweden game. It was a young and inexperienced back four there. But when you start sticking Davie Weir and Stephen McManus in there their experience of European football and international football means you see that they don't get caught in positions. We must have done 20 waves of attack, and I don't think there was a goal scored against them."

He dismissed those who still question Weir's inclusion. The Dundee United manager recalled his own attempts to ensure his players handed Weir an uncomfortable time. "People keep talking about Davie's pace," he said. "Well, as manager of Dundee United I keep mentioning that (to my players] but can't seem to do anything about it. You can't get your player into positions that will (hurt Davie] because of his experience.

He tends to jockey you into positions where he'll not get done by you."

Houston noted the change in atmosphere since the Sweden match, as the

players begin to engage with the thought that the country's Euro 2012 hopes rest on tomorrow's match and that against Liechtenstein on Tuesday. "I sense the anticipation and the importance now," he said.

Their opponents too might sense something. Scotland, after all, have been toothless on the road, nowhere more so than in Stockholm last month. "Yes, but what the Lithuanians will see when we hand over our team-sheet is quite a number of changes from the Sweden game," pointed out Houston.