Germany will need to bide their time tomorrow if they are to end Scotland’s unbeaten run that has stretched to six games, Marco Reus, the midfielder, has warned.
Scotland have won four and drawn two of their past six internationals while the Germans, with Reus making his return from injury, lost 4-2 to Argentina in a friendly rematch of July’s World Cup final on Wednesday.
“They have not lost for six straight games and they are a strong team with a fighting spirit,” said Reus, who was unlucky to miss the World Cup after he suffered an injury in their final warm-up game with Germany going on to win the title in Brazil.
“Scotland close down spaces quickly and so we will need patience and we need to be much better than against Argentina. We need to be more effective in front of goal.”
Germany squandered a string of good chances with Mario Gómez alone missing three times from close range as Argentina gained a measure of revenge for their defeat in the World Cup final.
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And while the world champions are expected to start their campaign to qualify for the 2016 European Championships with a victory, Reus is taking nothing for granted.
“Scotland are strong, they have a leader in Darren Fletcher, they are very quick in attack. What is needed from us is patience and we are fully aware of that,” Reus said.
The Germans will have central defender Jérôme Boateng back for the game, according to Andreas Köpke, the former international goalkeeper who is now part of Joachim Löw’s coaching team.
Boateng’s return will allow Löw to reshuffle his backline following a string of errors, especially from the full backs, against the South Americans.
“Jérôme will be back, he is without pain and is more or less certain to play,” Köpke said. “These last two days will show what changes or if any there will be in defence. Jérôme will return and some things will change but who will be on the left or on the right is something I cannot say just now.”
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Meanwhile, James McArthur, the midfielder, believes Scotland can show they play football the right way when they take on the world champions after Lukas Podolski, the Germany striker, claimed they would play a “dirty game”.
Podolski gave a withering assessment of Scotland’s strengths after Germany’s 4-2 defeat by Argentina on. McArthur was diplomatic as he stressed the Scots would continue to produce the football that has shot them up the Fifa rankings under Gordon Strachan.
He said: “We’ll go over there and try to play the way we want to play. Under the new manager we have been trying to get the ball down and play, and we will try and do that over there as well.
“The manager has done a hell of a lot for us. He has got us playing the right way, we look organised and the team spirit is excellent. We work really hard for each other.”