England vs. Scotland: preview, predictions and possible starting XIs

Yes sir, the Tartan Army can boogie and they will be dancing all the way to London - in their thousands - for Friday’s huge clash against England.

Scotland may have lost to the Czech Republic in their opening match at Euro 2020, but spirits will still be high with the group D encounter at Wembley Stadium up next.

After qualifying via a memorable penalty shoot-out against Serbia in November’s play-off, the Scots are playing in a major tournament for the first time since the 1998 Fifa World Cup.

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The 2-0 loss at Hampden on Tuesday gave Scotland a “reality Czech”, the Daily Record said on its front page this morning, but head coach Steve Clarke has urged his team not to dwell on the result.

“We’ll go back to base camp, lick our wounds for 24 hours and then we’ll be ready for the game on Friday,” Clarke said after the match.

As First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote on Twitter: “Onwards and upwards… next stop Wembley”.

No ticket - don’t travel

It’s not just Clarke and his squad who will be ready for the game against England. Nearly 3,000 Scottish fans have tickets for Wembley, but the Scottish Football Supporters Association expects 6,000 to travel while other estimates say there could be as many as 20,000, The Times reports.

Paul Goodwin, founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said: “There will be plenty of tartan on display as we like coming down and showing off. The fact we have not been part of it [a major tournament] for such a long time is a factor.”

Trains will be packed with Scots heading south and as of yesterday, all 15 services from Glasgow to London arriving in time for the game were all sold out while nearly all 17 trains from Edinburgh were also full.

Fans without tickets are being urged not to travel, but questions have been raised why there isn’t a Covid-secure fan zone in London for supporters to watch the game. “Glasgow has a fan zone that can take 6,000 people all seated with social distancing so why has London not got one?” said Goodwin.

Sven Lister, of the Rosyth Tartan Army supporters club, has warned there could be trouble if there’s no way for fans to watch the match. “I reckon there will be about 20,000 or so turning out,” he told MyLondon. “It just worries me that they’ve not done anything. There’s going to be groups wandering, possibly not getting to see the football, which would cause trouble.”

England vs. Scotland kicks off at 8pm on Friday and is live on ITV