Jordan Rhodes picked out for special attention by Bulgaria chief

Billy Stark’s side know that a win will send them to the top of Group 10 for at least 24 hours, before the Netherlands face Luxembourg.

Rhodes has been linked with big-money moves this summer, with Celtic and West Ham both credited with an interest. He has netted 46 goals in all competitions this term for Huddersfield Town and Scotland under-21s, and Madanski has singled him out.

He said: “Scotland are a very strong team. They are unbeaten so far, they went to Holland and won and not many teams can say that. The difference between the teams at the top of this group – us, Scotland, Holland and Austria – is that Scotland have an exceptional striker in Jordan Rhodes. He is one of the most exciting players in Europe.

“He has scored 46 goals this season. No one else in the group has a player like him. To win this game, which I think we can, it is clear we have to stop him scoring. We need at least four points from our next two games against Scotland and Holland to have a chance of qualifying.

“I think our players are as good as those from Holland and Scotland, but we haven’t played competitively for a month here, so we might not be fully fit.”

The Bulgarians have allowed free entry to all fans at the home of Hristo Stoichkov’s Litex Lovech in a bid to get a big crowd to support their youngsters.

Meanwhile, Johnny Russell admits he is going into the clash on a high following his spell with the full squad.

Russell was called up by Craig Levein for last weekend’s friendly against the United States, although he did not feature. Despite the week in Florida ending in a 5-1 defeat, the Dundee United forward has happy memories of training with Scotland.

The 22-year-old said: “It was a brilliant experience to be involved with the senior squad in America. All the players were great with me and I hope I can take something from that experience and use it tomorrow night. It was a massive boost for me, but now my focus is on beating Bulgaria.”