Match Preview
Slovakia v Scotland
Tuesday 11th October 2016, kick-off 7.45 pm (UK time)
Anton Malatinsky City Arena, Trnava
Live on Sky Sports
Tomorrow night, Scotland face Slovakia for the first time in their history, following Saturday’s draw against Lithuania.
Slovakia currently have no points in Group F, having lost to both England and Slovenia.
They have a number of dangerous players though with Martin Škrtel returning from suspension.
This could result in a change in formation after Slovakia lined up with three in defence on Saturday.
Napoli’s Marek Hamsik is also a danger for Slovakia having shown at both club and international level he can create goals and score them himself.
Slovakia qualified for the Euros earlier this year, progressing from their group, beating Spain 2-1 in October 2014 at home.
They emerged as runners up from the group losing only once, against the Spaniards away from home, and finished above Ukraine, Belarus, Luxembourg and FYR Macedonia.
During Euro 2016, they exited at the last 16 stage, being defeated 3-0 by Germany.
In the group stages they lost to Wales, beat Russia and drew against England.
In the Scotland camp, Gordon Strachan’s men are eying a win to keep them on track on their road to Russia.
Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall said: “We’re looking to get three points, especially after the disappointing result against Lithuania.
“With the way this group is shaping up, a lot of teams will be taking points off each other and tomorrow is a great chance for us to get a victory.
“Lithuania played well and scored a goal but we had a lot of chances. When we were chasing the game with 15 minutes to go, you would have taken a draw so it was good to get that goal at the end.
“We started our preparation for Slovakia on Sunday and watched some videos so we know what they are about.
“They changed formation at the weekend and have a few injuries so we’ll be looking to take advantage of any nervousness within the crowd to quieten them down early on.
“It’s a huge game for them as they’ve had a bad start.
“People from the outside have said that Slovakia are our main challengers for second, before a ball was kicked. It’s a huge game for them given they haven’t started the group the way they would have liked to.
“We’ve had a reasonable start and then a disappointing result so if we could win tomorrow then it would put a bit of breathing space between us and Slovakia.”
Marshall recently moved to Hull City in the Premier League, joining Robert Snodgrass, Shaun Maloney and Andy Robertson, admitting that it’s good to be surrounded by familiar faces.
“At Hull it’s been easy to settle as there are a few Scottish guys there. We’ve had difficult fixtures but hopefully we can get some more points on the board soon. The next few months will be when we’re judged as a club.”