Wilshere: England can handle Scotland hostility

Jack Wilshere says his family would never forgive him if he was not up for the challenge of helping England tackle Scotland on Tuesday night.

The Arsenal midfielder produced a man-of-the-match display as England recorded a fourth straight Euro 2016 qualifying victory after coming from behind to defeat Slovenia 3-1 at Wembley on Saturday.

Roy Hodgson’s squad, though, immediately turned focus on delivering the required performance up at Celtic Park, where the atmosphere will be white hot with Scotland coming off a big 1-0 win against Ireland on Friday.

Wilshere, 22, says everyone knows how important securing those bragging rights will be, both north and south of the border.

Jack Wilshere put in a man-of-the-match performance against Slovenia on Saturday © Getty Images

“I am desperate to play. They are the games that every England player wants to be playing in,” said Wilshere. “You ask any member of my family or anyone who knows what [rivalry] is like and they would never forgive me if I didn’t play.

“They will always say England-Scotland, that it is going to be a great atmosphere, so I want to play in that, of course I do.”

Wilshere started England’s breathless 3-2 win over Scotland at Wembley last August, and also has first-hand experience of the “incredible atmosphere” at Parkhead, from when Arsenal played a Champions League qualifier there in 2009.

“Tuesday night is not going to be very friendly, and we have got to be ready for that,” he said. “It will be a bit like Arsenal versus Tottenham, Liverpool against Manchester United, but we are used to that as players.

“We played Scotland at Wembley last year, and it wasn’t the friendliest [of games] then, so we know what we are in for.

“It is going to be a bit tougher this time as they will be a bit more up for it on their home ground, so we will have to be ready for it.”

Wilshere insists the younger members of the squad have been left in no doubt as to the historical importance of the tie.

“Of course it has the same meaning [now],” he said. “The manager has already given us a speech about England versus Scotland and told us that back in the day, it was the highlight of the season.

“The coaching staff are going to get us ready, we know what we will be walking into and we will definitely be up for it.”

Wilshere’s Arsenal and England team-mate Danny Welbeck’s double against Slovenia took his tally to 12 international goals, five coming in the last four England games.

Despite having clearly flourished since his deadline day move from United to Arsenal, where he is deployed in a preferred central attacking role, Welbeck is determined to keep focused.

“The most important thing is the team is getting the victories at the moment and I am trying to do my job by putting the ball into the net,” he said. “As a squad, there is a lot of talent in and around it, with a lot of talent still to come back in.

“The younger players in their age groups are doing really well too. You just have to work hard every day and then when you get your opportunity, you have to take it.”

Welbeck is looking forward to the chance to face former United team-mate Darren Fletcher in Glasgow.

He said: “Obviously I am very close with Darren from my time at Manchester United, he helped me a lot.

“We went through every training session and all the games, and I have a lot of respect for him.

“It was difficult for him with the illness and for him to come back and get into the team was his next step. Playing against him for Scotland with England will be a very great occasion.”

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