There weren’t any shocks in the Scotland squad for the England game but I didn’t really expect them.
We all knew Scott Brown was coming back, and to see Robert Snodgrass named was an unexpected bonus.
Everybody knows that this could be Gordon Strachan’s last game if it goes badly, and it could end the country’s hopes of qualifying for Russia too.
So he has to look no further ahead than next Friday night, and that’s what he’s done.
The long-term future of Brown is a bridge we can cross after Wembley.
The player who drops out to make way for him will obviously be disappointed but that’s football.
Strachan will want Snoddy and Brown together in the middle of the park.
Let’s face it, Brown has been the best midfielder we have in the first few months of the season. He’ll revel in a match like this, which is international football’s answer to an Old Firm derby.
And Snoddy gives you a goal threat, as well as that bit of off-the-cuff creativity that you need at the highest level.
We may well need to get our goals from midfield because I can’t see our best finisher, Leigh Griffiths, getting a game.
If Strachan wasn’t picking Sparky when he was starting for Celtic you can’t see him changing his mind now that he’s on the bench for his club.
I’d have Ross McCormack in the squad, and Charlie Adam is playing well for Stoke, but they are two guys whose faces don’t fit.
You could also make a case for Kenny Miller for a one-off match of this size but Kenny retired from international football a couple of years ago.
Strachan and his staff watch more games than I do, so let’s hope he has got his selection right.
At the moment it seems like the pressure is on Scotland but I actually think that once the game kicks off it will be greater on England.
Their fans will be expecting them to roll us over.
And the Strachan gameplan will probably be – try to hang in there for as long as possible and hope that pressure takes its toll.
* I don’t suppose a pink kit would be my first choice for a game against England but it really isn’t a big issue.
I wouldn’t care if the players were naked as long as they get a win!
* What a great result for Dundee last weekend. It was just what they needed.
I’m delighted for Paul Hartley.
People have been comparing Dundee to Dundee United of last season but I don’t think that was fair.
Saturday was just the first game of the second quarter. There’s a long way to go.
Beating Hamilton was a big psychological boost and backing it up against Motherwell would be another one. It would maybe even take them off the bottom going into the international break.
Dundee’s home record hasn’t been great and I think the fans need to get back some of the Deefiant spirit that served the club so well back in my day.
On the whole, they’ve had things really good for the last couple of years.
Motherwell are the team I followed home and away as a boy but my wife Debbie won’t let there be any divided loyalties.
Plus we’re going to the game as the guests of the Big Rabbie D Dark Blues supporters’ group!
