‘Pick yourselves up, go to Wembley and who knows?’: Darren Fletcher insists Scotland CAN still beat England despite ‘bitterly disappointing’ defeat to Czech Republic
Darren Fletcher has urged Scotland to ‘get behind’ Steve Clarke’s team after a desperately disappointing defeat to the Czech Republic, with England up next.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick bagged twice, including a stunning wonder-goal from the half-way line, as Scotland suffered a potentially costly defeat in Group D.
The Tartan Army will line-up at Wembley on Friday with a big job to do against the group favourites – hoping to extend their stay after returning to tournament football following a 23 year absence.
Scotland fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Czech Republic on Monday in the Euros
Patrik Schick scored both goals to give Scotland a mountain to climb in their Group D hopes
‘It’s bitterly disappointing, the anticipation and excitement, everyone saying we couldn’t lose this. We did,’ Fletcher told the BBC.
‘There was nothing between the teams but the energy sapped after that second goal. We have to pick ourselves up and get behind the nation and not try to reflect too much.
‘It’s a very difficult game next, but this team are capable. We have to remember how we got here, we were resilient.
‘I am not ruling us out against England. I know there will be disappointment, but pick yourselves up and go to Wembley and who knows?
Darren Fletcher was left disappointed by the result, but maintains hope they can beat England
The Tartan Army ran out of steam in the second-half and couldn’t fight back against the Czechs
‘We were unlucky. What if we’d got one goal when we were 2-0 down? I think we would have gone on and equalised.’
Schick and Co, who now lead Group D on goal-difference from the Three Lions, face Croatia on Friday.
Sneaking through via a third-place finish in the group could now be the best bet for Clarke’s side, and Fletcher will be willing the Czechs on against Croatia.
‘It’s looking like, now they’ve got three points, we’ll need them to do us a favour against Croatia,’ the former Manchester United midfielder continued.
‘We’ll be supporting them against Croatia most probably. They’re a hard-working team, they’re definitely based on team spirit and hard work, very similar to Scotland in a lot of ways.
‘They’re a really solid team, and he gives them a lot of quality.’