BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl backed Che Adams to thrive on the international stage for Scotland and insisted: “He has the quality to compete in the Euros.” The Saints striker begins the biggest tournament of his life tomorrow, when Steve Clarke’s side play Czech Republic in their Group D opener at Hampden Park (2pm). He has already scored two goals for the Tartan Army in four internationals. And Hasenhuttl, who himself led the line for his native Austria at international level, believes Adams has what it takes to handle the big occasion.
Ralph Hassenhuttl said: “The spot is on you. That is a fact. If you are performing well, you’re the hero. If not, then it’s tough I think. This is when you play for your country – the whole nation is looking on you. But I think he can handle this and he has the quality to compete in the Euros. I wish him all the best when he’s part of them. I am sure that he will score his goals.”
Quizzed on how Adams compared to the player and person who walked through the door almost two years ago,
Ralph Hasenhuttl replied: “I think it was important for him to get the time to adapt to Premier League football because it’s a different level than Championship football. I think especially in the first year he felt it was more difficult to score here – definitely – and he learned a lot in this time, I think. But what I always liked was the way he worked for this team, the way he learned and the way he was fighting for his position in the team. It was not always easy. But it was more and more coming to the situation that everybody sees his qualities and we are happy to have him here. Also, the noise around that a lot of teams want to have a player like him shows us that we made a very good signing for us. I think this season, he scored nine goals. He missed double figures but I think next season, when he scores the easy goals – and he had a lot of easy chances this season – then he can end up really in double figures. We are very happy for him and for us.”
Scotland, who also have Saints midfielder Stuart Armstrong in their squad, are set to take on England and Croatia in their other Group D contests.
