Scotland v Georgia: Scott Brown wants courage

Scotland captain Scott Brown ahead of his side's European Championship Qualifier against Georgia. Picture: SNS

Confidence is high in the Dark Blues camp following a six-game unbeaten run that was only halted by world champions Germany’s narrow win last month.

But Brown knows expectations have increased as the Tartan Army dream of ending their 18-year exile from major tournaments at Euro 2016 in France.

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Now, ahead of his side’s second qualifying clash, the Celtic midfielder has urged his team-mates to block out their nerves when they take on Temuri Ketsbaia’s men at Ibrox.

He said: “We’ve got to go out thinking we can win every game. We’ve got to be brave and play attacking football especially at Ibrox as well.

“It’s a home game for us and we’ve got to try to do as well as we can.

“It’s been a long time since Scotland qualified for a major tournament. I think we deserve to be there in France for the Euros and hopefully this can be our campaign.”

Scotland have not played Georgia since the 2007 double-header saw the Dark Blues triumph at Hampden but lose in Tbilisi.

Brown was a second-half substitute in the Glasgow leg as the hosts won 2-1 with goals from Kris Boyd and Craig Beattie, but the Hoops captain is not looking back on that match for too many pointers ahead of this weekend’s battle.

“They’ve changed manager since then,” he said. “It’s going to be totally different.

“We’ve been watching videos. We know how they are going to play hopefully so it might help us a little bit. At the end of the day it’s 11 v 11 - whoever goes on the park has to go out there and do Scotland proud.”

Boss Gordon Strachan has largely trusted a 4-2-3-1 formation since taking over two years ago and insists he will not wander far from that ploy against the Georgians.

“Everyone knows their jobs now,” said Brown. “Your position and who you are marking, what you are doing when you are attacking and defending. It’s good to be part of and know everyone has their own job.”