Scottish bravehearts have no fear of French, declares Hartley

PAUL HARTLEY insists there will be no fear in the Scotland side when they take on France in their Euro 2008 qualifier at Hampden Park tomorrow.

The Scots got off to a perfect start to their campaign with Group B wins over the Faroe Islands and Lithuania, but now face a more testing double-header against France in Glasgow and Ukraine in Kiev.

France defender William Gallas claimed Walter Smith’s side would be “quaking in their boots” at the prospect of facing the World Cup runners-up.

The build-up to the game has so far focused primarily on the quality within Raymond Domenech’s star-studded squad which includes star names such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele.

However, while conceding that France were “probably the best team in the world at the moment”, the Hearts midfielder was in no mood to be intimidated. He said: “France are the World Cup runners-up and probably the best team in the world at the moment but we don’t go into the game fearing them.

“I know a lot of people have written us off but we have had a great start to the campaign and we go into the game with a lot of confidence. We know they are good players but the group of players in our squad are capable of getting something out of this match.”

Hartley, however, is well aware of just how difficult Scotland’s task will be tomorrow. He said: “It is probably going to be the toughest game that I have played in.

“When you look down at their team list, they have fantastic players from one to 11. They have Makelele and Vieira in the middle of the park so if I’m playing in that position then I will be directly up against one of those two.

“And they have fantastic pace throughout their side, especially with Henry and (Franck) Ribery. You have to just admire them as a team but you can’t sit off them, you have to get close and make it difficult for them. But we also have good players and when we get the ball we have to try and express ourselves and make things happen.”

With maximum points from their opening two games and another 52,000 sell-out guaranteed at the national stadium, Hartley accepts the Tartan Army are hoping to see the Scots push on in their quest for qualification, starting with the match against the French.

He said: “Once you get a couple of good results with Scotland there is always expectation but it is a good thing. It would be different if we had got two bad results, but we’ve had two victories and hopefully we can get more points over the next two games.

“We would love to get six points but hopefully we can take something from both matches. Ukraine will be a difficult game on Wednesday night but first and foremost we have to get something against France.”

Meanwhile, Rangers left-back Steven Smith has been denied the chance of a dramatic late call-up due to a thigh injury. Walter Smith approached his former club for the 21-year old’s services after injuries ruled out Everton’s Gary Naysmith, Kevin McNaughton of Cardiff and Reading defender Graeme Murty.