McNamara appeals for strong refereeing

SCOTLAND defender Jackie McNamara has called for referee Claude Colombo to be strong during his side’s make-or-break Euro 2004 qualifier with Lithuania.

McNamara has suffered once already at the hands of Algimantas Liubinskas' team as he was adjudged to have given away a penalty in Kaunas in April.

The Celtic man insisted he had not touched his opponent, but Austrian official Fritz Stuchlik thought otherwise and awarded the spot-kick which produced the only goal of the game.

The Scots cannot afford a setback like that at Hampden Park on Saturday as they know they must win to have any chance of reaching the play-offs.

Scotland manager Berti Vogts has already indicated he believes the Lithuanians are partial to going down easily under challenges.

However, McNamara insisted he was only interested in getting those vital three points.

"I don't think revenge comes into it. The best revenge is to win the game and make sure we get into the play-offs, or do our best to get into them anyway. That's the best way to get back at them," he said.

Interestingly, Frenchman Colombo is already known to Hoops fans as he was the official who sent Martin O'Neill to the stands during an UEFA Cup clash with Celta Vigo last season.

Lithuania can finish ahead of the Scots if they win, but cannot overtake Iceland so a play-off place is out of the question.

Meanwhile, John Hartson wants Wales to think of its long-term future and make sure it ends its Euro 2004 qualifying group with a victory.

Wales' new footballer of the year knows the realists see Saturday's Cardiff clash with Serbia and Montenegro as just a prelude to next month's play offs for which Wales have already ensured their participation.

But the Celtic star is well aware another victory particularly against the second seeds in group nine will further enhance Wales' standings in world soccer.

Wales need desperately to continue to improve on their FIFA rankings and their status to ensure an easier passage when the qualifying groups for the 2006 World Cup Finals are drawn in December.

Hartson said: "Any international win helps us for the future. There are the World Cup qualifiers coming up next year after the European finals, and we need to raise our profile and win games that will help us have better draws and less difficult groups.

"We must finish with a bang. We started the group on fire and we have now not won in our last three qualifiers," he said.