Scots' dummy run for Dutch

PHIL SHAW

reports from Glasgow

Cynics have suggested that the only place where Scotland and Australia would draw a crowd is Murrayfield, and that the ``Socceroos'' might be less than ideal opponents for a team preparing for the European Championship. Undaunted, Craig Brown is approaching tonight's friendly at Hampden Park as if the month were June and the venue Wembley.

Brown yesterday named a starting line-up that is as close to his ``first XI'' as any Scotland manager is ever likely to get for a non-competitive fixture at this stage of the season. It includes only one uncapped player, Celtic's Brian O'Neil, and two others, Craig Burley and John Spencer, who have something to prove before Brown announces his squad for the finals.

The selection of O'Neil is particularly interesting, albeit one forced upon Brown by the injury to Colin Calderwood. As a midfielder who converted to central defence, the 23-year-old from Paisley tends to use the ball more constructively than his main rival, the Motherwell stopper Brian Martin.

Brown's admiration for O'Neil is such that when asked to nominate his best sporting moment of last year, he replied: "Hearing that Brian O'Neil was back in training." A knee injury kept him out for 10 months, and as recently as three weeks ago, doubts were raised over his match fitness when he was substituted during a Scottish Cup tie.

The diminutive Spencer will play off Ally McCoist, who captains the side in his 50th international, thus resuming a partnership last tried when they were together at Rangers.

Spencer, who cleaned McCoist's boots as an apprentice, is one of several attacking players vying to make the cut. "He's not a certainty," Brown said. "But his club performances have made him a probability. He can clinch it in the next two friendlies."

Three-quarters of Brown's midfield are available, with Paul McStay's 73rd cap being his first since the draw in Russia a year ago. Gary McAllister admitted he hopes to exorcise the "major downer" of Leeds' Wembley embarrassment, while John Collins, persistently linked with Everton, has a pre- deadline chance to impress other potential purchasers.

``We expect Australia to be very athletic, mobile and tactically sophisticated,'' Brown said. ``When we played them 10 years ago [in a World Cup play-off] we only won 2-0 over the two games, and they've improved massively since then."

Moreover, he anticipates that the Australians, coached by the former Hearts player Eddie Thomson, will provide a ``dummy run'' for when the Scots play the Netherlands at Villa Park. Like the Dutch, Thomson favours a three-man defence.

The Socceroos squad reflects the influence of Australia's strong ethnic communities from European countries. Half earn their corn in England, and the sight of Aston Villa's Mark Bosnich in goal should serve as both an incentive to McAllister and a warning to Scotland that they must not underestimate visitors who are gearing up for a World Cup qualifying campaign.

SCOTLAND (v Australia, Hampden Park, tonight): Leighton (Hibernian); Burley (Chelsea), O'Neil (Celtic), Hendry (Blackburn), Boyd (Celtic); McKinlay (Blackburn), McStay (Celtic), McAllister (Leeds), Collins (Celtic); Spencer (Chelsea), McCoist (Rangers).