Football
PA Sport 9y

Wayne Rooney: England youngsters must relax in 'hostile' Scotland friendly

Wayne Rooney says the younger members of the England squad must not be intimidated by the hostile atmosphere at Celtic Park when they face Scotland on Tuesday.

Rooney marked his 100th cap with a crucial penalty on Saturday as England came from behind to record a 3-1 win over Slovenia, but focus now turns to Tuesday's international in Glasgow.

Although a friendly by name, there should be no sense of that between the two sides, or the rival fans inside the famous 60,000-seater stadium -- and Rooney knows all about the white-hot atmosphere of Celtic Park.

He played there twice with Manchester United and he has also watched from the stands after being given tickets by former teammates Alan Stubbs and Roy Keane.

Given the intense rivalry between the two nations, Rooney expects the decibel levels to be even higher on Tuesday night, and he feels his inexperienced teammates may need some calm words of reassurance before kickoff.

"You don't realise until you actually play there what the atmosphere is like," the England captain said. "The atmosphere was great when I was in the crowd, unbelievable, but you don't realise until you're on that pitch what it's like so maybe a few of them, you might need to speak to them and say: 'Listen, this is going to be hostile. Make sure you blank it out, relax, and play your normal game. Don't get involved in it.'"

Three Lions coach Roy Hodgson insists his side will take Tuesday's game seriously, and Rooney thinks the Scots will pose a test, saying: "Scotland are doing well at the minute. They seem to have found a bit of form under Gordon Strachan, so we know it'll be a tough game."

England versus Scotland is the oldest fixture in international football and until 25 years ago there was an annual meeting between the two nations.

Last August's action-packed friendly at Wembley, which England won 3-2, led to calls for the return of the fixture on a yearly basis and Rooney seems to be in favour of that too, adding: "That would be nice. It's obviously not down to me, but it would be good."

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