SCOTLAND: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Scotland coach Alex McLeish says his side have earned right to feel confident ahead of Euro 2008 qualifying tie with Georgia

Scotland team coach Alex McLeish told reporters in Tbilisi on Tuesday (October 16) his players were confident about facing Georgia in a Euro 2008 qualifier, but expected a hard game on Wednesday (October 17). "I think to get to this stage, with two games left, they are entitled to feel like that. They have earned the right to have that confidence, to have that outlook, so, you know, the squad are in such good confidence. It's not complacency, it's not conceit, it's confidence and belief, but we know we have got a hard game," McLeish told a news conference in the Georgian capital. Injured Georgia captain Kakha Kaladze has warned Scotland that Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier will be no walkover for the Group B leaders. Georgia are well out of contention for Euro 2008 but Scotland, against all the odds, are on the verge of qualifying for their first finals in a decade. Scotland lead Group B with 24 points from world champions Italy (23) and the beaten World Cup finalists France (22). All three teams have two matches to play and four points from those two games will ensure Scotland a place in next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland. Georgia lost 2-1 away to Scotland and another Scottish victory would leave Alex McLeish's men needing only a point from their final qualifier against Italy in Glasgow on Nov. 17. "We'll try and win it within our strategy, that's it in a nutshell. I'm not going to tell you here that we going to go out for a victory, that we're gonna attack, attack the whole game. I think it would be foolish and I don't know if we will be capable of doing that. We are capable of doing many things, but that's never been in our strategy, and it's served us well," added McLeish. Scotland, nursing some injuries, will be playing against a home team that has nothing to lose. Scotland will be without midfielder Scott Brown (hamstring), along with Alan Hutton (calf), while Lee McCulloch and Garry O'Connor are suspended after picking up bookings in Saturday's (October 13) 3-1 victory over Ukraine. As well as missing captain Kaladze, Georgia will also be without experienced midfielder Levan Kobiashvili, while goalkeeper Georgi Lomaia has left the squad "by mutual consent" after giving up a soft goal in last Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Italy. He is likely to be replaced by 17-year-old debutant Giorgi Makaridze.

ITN Source | October 17, 2007

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