I Want To Lead By Example -Darren Fletcher

 

Darren Fletcher wants to lead by example when he captains Scotland in their first World Cup Qualifier against Malta on Sunday. The West Brom midfielder will begin his second stint as captain after the international retirement of Celtic's Scott Brown following their failure to make it to Euro 2016.

Scotland open their campaign on the Mediterranean archipelago and have two more games in October before the mouth-watering trip to Wembley Stadium to take on old rivals England in November.

He said “It's nice to be captain again. It's something I took great pride in. Circumstances meant that I wasn't captain for a while but Scott did a fantastic job and then I was there beside him. But things change quickly in football and it's me who is hoping to lead the country in this campaign and looking to qualify. You stress the importance of the a victory before every game, no matter who you play. You want to start campaigns well and get as many points on the board as possible and start as strongly as you can. It gives you a bit of confidence going forward but at the same time it doesn't guarantee qualification and not starting well doesn't mean you are out of it. It's about getting there in the end and getting enough points to get you into the position of either qualifying automatically or second place for the play-offs. We'll take it from a slow start or a quick start, whatever way it comes. It's a highly competitive group and everyone will feel like they can win games and take points from each other. But we've had good starts in the past and not qualified so it's not the be all and end all.”

Fletcher is glad Gordon Strachan remains in his role as Scotland manager and feels continuity could be a big factor as they look to qualify for their first summer tournament since the 1998 World Cup.