Scotland can beat 'average' England, says Gordon McQueen

Former international defender Gordon McQueen thinks Scotland are a "poor team" but will not be surprised if they beat England at Wembley on Wednesday.

"I don't think it will be too much of an upset if we do win because England are very average," he said.

"They've still got a bit of work to do to qualify for the World Cup.

"The Scotland team has been on its knees for a while. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Tartan Army to get some pride back in their team."

The friendly will be the 111th meeting between international football's oldest rivals and the first in almost 14 years.

And McQueen, who lists Manchester United and Leeds United among his former clubs, believes the visitors will be the more motivated side.

"All the Scottish lads will be more than up for it," he told BBC Radio Scotland.

"I'm not so sure England will take it as seriously as we do.

"Don't get me wrong, the English are patriotic. Look at the number of supporters they take to the big tournaments.

"But they don't have a good team.

"And, if people like Wayne Rooney are going to be playing - he's not even played this pre-season, all the better."

McQueen, who was capped 30 times, is confident Scotland have found the right manager in Gordon Strachan.

However, although he was encouraged by Scotland's win in Croatia in June, he thinks it will take time to improve an international side that has not been at a major tournament since 1998.

"Scotland are still a poor team," he added. "Gordon has got a long hard slog on his hands.

"It's a really hard job, but he's the right man.

"For the first time in a long while, the press, and certainly the Tartan Army, realise that and I think they will be patient with Gordon."

McQueen, 61, played against England at Wembley three times and scored in a memorable 2-1 win in 1977.

"It has become an iconic day because of the amount of Scottish fans at the game; it was quite incredible," he recalled.

"As a kid, you want to play against England, you want to beat them and you want to score against them.

"Doing all of those things in one afternoon was nice.

"I've played in FA Cup finals and League Cup finals at Wembley, but I still consider the England v Scotland game to be the biggest match of my career."