Scotland v England team news: West Ham's Stewart Downing starts as Fraser Forster replaces Joe Hart in goal

 

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Know Your Enemy: Hodgson looks around Celtic Park ahead of Scotland clash
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Standard Sport18 November 2014

Roy Hodgson has handed West Ham's Stewart Downing a starting place for England's clash with Scotland.

Reborn under Sam Allardyce this season, Downing earns his first appearance since 2012 and will operate in the hole at Celtic Park.

Meanwhile, Forster replaces Joe Hart in goal for England after Hodgson announced that the Manchester City goalkeeper would be returning to his club following Saturday's victory over Slovenia.

Reborn: Downing has two goals and four assists in the league this season

Forster spent four seasons at Celtic (the first two while on loan from Newcastle United), making 197 appearances for the Bhoys before his £10million transfer to Southampton last summer.

The 26-year-old has kept seven clean sheets in 11 Premier League appearances so far.

Teams in full

Scotland starting XI: Marshall, Whittaker, R.Martin, Hanley, Robertson, Maloney, Mulgrew, Brown, Naismith, Anya, C Martin.

England starting XI: Forster, Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Shaw; Wilshere, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Downing; Rooney, Welbeck.

Speaking ahead of the match, Scotland captain Scott Brown insisted that the match means more to them than it does to England - something which the Celtic admits 'p*sses them off'.

“What you have to understand is how special this is to the players, how much it means to us,” Brown told the Daily Record. “We know the English really do not bother about us - they could not care less about Scottish football - and to be perfectly honest, that p****s us off.

“To be fair to them, they might not even realise they are doing it. But they have this sense of superiority that comes with thinking how much better they are than us. And that is why we go into a game like this absolutely bursting to prove a point. This fixture means much, much more to us than it does to the English boys and I am not saying that in a critical way.

“The truth is they are playing away down south in huge games, at great grounds and in massive competitions week in week out. Why would they bother to look over their shoulder to see what we are up to?

“But we are brought up with a different mentality in Scotland. We are brought up to believe beating England is as good as it gets. We are going into a game against our arch enemy and that is the best thing any Scot could experience.”

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