UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers
Latvia v Scotland
Tuesday, 10 October 2017, kick-off 4pm (UK time)
Daugava - Liepaja, Latvia
Scotland Under-21 coach Scot Gemmill believes his squad are benefiting from a boost in first-team exposure as he prepares his side for Latvia on Tuesday night.
The vast majority of the group are enjoying regular senior action, which hasn’t always been the case at this level.
As they look to build on a solid start in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, he said: “I think this is the first time in a long time that so many of them are playing regular first-team football.
“When we met up for this double-header I think there were only one or two who hadn’t played the previous weekend, so they’re starting to build really strong CVs.
“I think we’re all in agreement that that’s exactly what we need.”
After the hugely impressive opening win against the Netherlands, Friday’s defeat to England hasn’t done much to dent confidence within a determined bunch ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Latvia.
Scot added: “Everyone’s fit and training well – all 23 that we took with us – and we’re looking forward to the game now.
“I don’t think the game the other night against England has had any impact on our preparations for Latvia.
“We picked up three points from the first two games against the top two seeds. Now we really need to make the most of that start.
“We’re working with a really good bunch of motivated players.
“There’s a real willingness to put in the work, which needs to be there every single time we play.
“It was a really strong performance against the Netherlands.
“While the England game wasn’t as strong, we make allowances for that being a very difficult game.
“We need to get back to the way we were in the opener.”