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Gareth Southgate says it would be \u201cridiculous\u201d to overly experiment as England head to hostile Hampden Park to face in-form foes Scotland in a so-called friendly.<\/p>\n
Both sides are on the cusp of qualification for next summer\u2019s European Championship as they meet on Tuesday evening for the 116th edition of the world\u2019s oldest international fixture.<\/p>\n
Southgate sees England\u2019s first friendly fixture since March 2022 as an important test and learning step for his side, fresh from Saturday\u2019s challenging 1-1 draw against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Scotland have won their last five matches and will be roared on by a sold-out Hampden Park crowd on Tuesday, when the 53-year-old knows he has to get the balance right with his selection.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness \u2013 we\u2019ve had a day less preparation \u2013 experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,\u201d Southgate said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the usual things that are expected of us with England, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think the first thing is we can\u2019t fiddle around with the team because we\u2019re playing a top-level side, who are going to be at full tilt and giving us a really high-level challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you can\u2019t overly experiment because that would be ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his squad selection for this September double-header, leading to starts for Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
It was the former\u2019s first competitive start of the season and the first time the latter had represented his country since swapping Liverpool for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.<\/p>\n
Southgate was criticised by some for selecting the pair against Ukraine, while a disjointed, toothless performance hardly set pulses racing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI haven\u2019t seen it, so the reaction for us is, we\u2019re top of the group,\u201d said the England boss, who could hand Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah their debuts in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re the top scorers in Europe. The boys did a really good job in a difficult environment and we know that our attacking play didn\u2019t quite click.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think some of that was the surface, really, because to make those really incisive, quick passes at times you just needed a little extra touch or there was a little bobble.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very conscious I wasn\u2019t going to be too harsh on my internal review with the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you could see moments when we\u2019re watching it back where the ball pops over players\u2019 feet or (someone) goes to play a ball first time, and it lofts in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cEqually, that wasn\u2019t the case with everything that we did, so we\u2019re always challenging. We want to be better and better and we\u2019ve got to set a high standard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t as happy coming away with the point as we might have been but it\u2019s still a really good result.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw what happened in our group later that night (with Italy drawing 1-1 with North Macedonia).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we beat North Macedonia people were questioning the quality that they had and the standard of the opposition, but Italy went there and couldn\u2019t get the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we kind of know the cycle, frankly, with England. I\u2019ve been in the job long enough now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s constant, it\u2019s never-ending, but we have to really focus internally on what\u2019s important for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cReview to our own standards, review and make sure that we know what we\u2019re working towards, and what we\u2019re comparing ourselves against, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southgate believes the trip to Glasgow will help in that on a night when England and Scotland will commemorate the 150th anniversary of their first meeting on November 30, 1872.<\/p>\n
The former defender admitted he was briefly a member of the Tartan Army in his childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, this is horrendous what I\u2019m going to say here ahead of tomorrow, but I was supporting Scotland in 1978 because obviously we hadn\u2019t qualified,\u201d the England boss said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of followed that through the trauma of Peru and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we were back in \u201982 and all of a sudden, you know, for me then onwards it was all about England.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut, yeah, great fixtures. I\u2019ve met so many of the former players over the years \u2013 worked with some of them, played with some of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fabulous game. I know there\u2019s a rivalry and I know people will be wary of it crossing a boundary, but it\u2019s a brilliant sporting rivalry and it\u2019s a great game to be involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n