Disciplinary

Rhodes relishing Luxembourg return

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

International Challenge Match
Luxembourg v Scotland
Wednesday, 14th November 2012, kick-off 8.15pm (local time)
Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg

Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes will return to the scene of one of his proudest moments in football when Scotland take on Luxembourg tomorrow evening.

The 22-year-old scored his first international goal, and followed it up with two more, as Scotland under-21s defeated Luxembourg 5-1 in a Euro qualifier at the Stade Josy Barthel last October.

Rhodes said:  "I have very fond memories of that night. Not only did I score three goals in an important win for the under-21s, but it was my first goal for Scotland at any level.

"It's a match that I will always look back on fondly, and of course I would love to get on the score sheet again if selected to play tomorrow."

Rhodes won eight under-21 caps and scored eight goals under Billy Stark, who is currently leading the national team on an interim basis following the departure of Craig Levein.

He was an integral part of the side that went unbeaten until the last match of the under-21 Euro campaign, and netted in a famous 2-1 away win over The Netherlands. Scotland narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs after conceding a 91st minute goal to go down 3-2 against Austria in the final group match.

Rhodes said: "It was a very exciting campaign to be part of and I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the first time I was introduced in a friendly in Belgium, until the last qualifier I played against Bulgaria in May.

"It was a great achievement to go unbeaten until the final match, and it was just a shame that we didn't catch the break that we needed to get over the final hurdle and get to the play-offs."

Rhodes has gone on to win four caps for the senior side this year, but feels that his time working with Stark and his staff at under-21 level was invaluable.

"I have a lot of great memories from my time with the under-21s. I feel as if I learned a great deal from Billy and Jim Fleeting, and from  the players that I played with and against.

"Everything from going away to different countries, learning about different cultures and the way that they play football - I very much enjoyed the whole experience.

"I'm delighted that I'm getting the opportunity to work with Billy again, but it is unfortunate that it has come about because of a coach losing his job. I'm grateful to Billy for introducing me to the Scotland set-up, and to Craig for bringing me into the senior squad.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow's game, I'm looking forward to going back to a stadium where I scored a hat-trick. I think it will be a good game, and hopefully we can come away with a similar result."