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City ace hatches a plan to deal with Real Madrid new boy Eden Hazard
Kenny McLean faces a tough assignment for Scotland in Belgium on Euro2020 qualifying duty Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Kenny McLean is unfazed facing Belgium’s big hitters - but he might need back up to keep Real Madrid signing Eden Hazard in check.
Hazard will be the dangerman to Scotland in Tuesday's Euro2020 qualifier in Brussels, before he jets to Spain to be officially unveiled by Los Blancos later this week.
The attacking midfielder has cut his ties with Chelsea in a deal that could rise to £130m, and Norwich City midfielder McLean knows the odds are stacked against Scotland causing an upset against the World Cup semi-finalists.
"I don't fancy a man-marking job on him - I think we'll go two-on-one," he joked. "The players they've got are world-class - they're at the top of the tree. But we've got plenty of quality as well. We want to pit ourselves against the best.
"It'll be tough to stop Hazard but it's something you've got to enjoy. We've got plenty of players that can hurt them. We're privileged to be in this position and we need to leave it all on the pitch. We did it on Saturday night - Cyprus made it tough for us but we got the result we needed."
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McLean played the full 90 minutes as Steve Clarke's Scotland reign got off to a winning start with a 2-1 Hampden Park win. The Canaries' midfielder believes the pressure is now firmly off against the hotly-tipped Belgians.
"The expectation was on us to win the game. Thankfully, we delivered then and the pressure is now on them. But we feel we can get a result," he said, speaking to the Scotsman.
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"Belgium is littered with world-class players. But we know how we are against the ball, we'll show our compactness and we've got players at the top end of the pitch that can hurt anyone. Our two wide men are top-class players.
"There's been a great spirit around the place and the manager has brought that with him. His staff are excellent as well, really enjoyable to work with.
"I think everyone in the squad would say the same. We're only going to get better.
"You can see, in spells of the game, that while Cyprus were decent we showed the way we want to play.
"We could have been a bit braver with our press but playing against teams like Belgium, you'll see how tough we are to beat. The manager has drummed that into us."
