Poland manager Adam Nawalka has no fears that his players will still be distracted by their historic win over world champions Germany when they take on Scotland.
Poland is still in celebratory mood after their national team’s 2-0 victory on Saturday - their first triumph over their neighbours and rivals at the 19th time of asking.
However, Nawalka has been impressed with the way his players immediately cast their attentions to their next European Championship qualifier against Scotland in Warsaw on Tuesday night.
Nawalka said: “The team is actually very calm and modest. At the end of the game against Germany we were already focusing on the game against Scotland. I think we will show that we are heading in the right direction.
“We have to be prepared mentally and physically and we need a good game plan like we had against Germany. I was very pleased that we made our fans happy and we were happy too, but as soon as the game finished we were thinking about Scotland. We have a very detailed strategy and we hope to be very well organised and prepared for the next game, so I am positive.”
Arkadiusz Milik epitomised the modesty that his coach talked about. The striker, who has been sent on loan to Ajax from Bayer Leverkusen, headed the opener against the Germans but he has played down his contribution.
“I’m not the national hero, the whole team are national heroes,” he said when asked about adjusting to the fame. “But we are trying not to think about that. We’re concentrating on the game against Scotland. That’s our priority.”
Despite the exertions of holding out the World Cup winners, Nawalka admitted he had hoped to name the same team. But, like Scotland with Grant Hanley, Poland have lost a centre-back for the clash at the national stadium in Warsaw.
Legia Warsaw defender Tomasz Jodlowiec drops out after twisting his ankle.
Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal but Artur Boruc made an appearance at the pre-match media conference, where he lavished praise on Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, his former boss at Celtic Park.
The Southampton player said: "He's a great coach and an absolutely great character. I think he has done a lot of great work in the past 18 months as coach of Scotland.
“He has great characteristics and a great attitude as coach towards his players. He has helped the team really, really well and the progress in the last few months has been very, very good.”
