Webester ready to tackle Germany

Scotland defender Andy Webster insists he has no fear of facing Germany after playing against both halves of the Old Firm last season.

The Hearts youngster has been in impressive form for the Tynecastle side throughout a campaign which saw him come up against players like Henrik Larsson and Ronald de Boer.

Webster’s form has not gone unnoticed by Scotland boss Berti Vogts and he has played in his country’s last two games, against Austria and New Zealand.

Now the former Arbroath man is hoping for the chance to play against the Germans in next week’s vital Euro 2004 qualifier.

And, even though Rudi Voller’s men will be firm favourites to take the three points at Hampden Park, Webster insists playing against Celtic and Rangers is the ideal preparation for such a huge game.

He said: “Henrik Larsson proved his quality last week in the UEFA Cup final and, at Rangers, Michael Mols, Ronald de Boer, Claudio Caniggia and Shota Arveladze are all quality players.

“So I would say that playing at a high level with Hearts against teams like the Old Firm has benefited my game.

“Whether I play in the Germany game or not isn’t my decision – that’s up to Mr Vogts – but as any footballer will tell you, they want to play in the big games.”

Webster has not enjoyed the best of luck since being called into the Scotland squad – his first game ended with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Austria, before being held to a draw against New Zealand last night.

Those friendlies have not been the best preparation for the visit of Germany, but Webster insists Scotland still have a good chance of taking maximum points from that game, despite recent poor results.

He added: “Any game you go into you have to be optimistic about and feel that you are going to take three points from the match.

“You don’t go into any game thinking you’re going to get beat – you need a strong mental attitude.

“At the end of the day it’s 11 against 11 and we know that they have some big players, but on our day we can give it a go and hopefully that’s what we will do next Saturday.

“I don’t feel daunted by it – we have a job to do and that’s what we’ll be doing instead of thinking about who we’re playing against.”