Denmark coach Morten Olsen insists he has more to worry about than extending the Danes' good run against Scotland when they face each other in tomorrow night's international friendly at Hampden.

The former Ajax manager captained the Danish side which beat Scotland 1-0 in the 1986 FIFA World Cup™ in Mexico and in the subsequent four meetings between the two countries Scotland have yet to score a goal, far less take a share of the spoils.

However, Olsen, who confirmed that young Ajax left-back Nicolai Boilesen will make his debut, is looking at the game in the context of Denmark's upcoming and crucial UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers, starting with Norway next month.

Portugal are top of Group H on goal difference from Denmark and the Norwegians, all of whom have ten points from five games. When asked about the importance of defeating Scotland again, Olsen replied: "It is important to win against Norway.

"Of course there is a lot of prestige in the national game, we will try to win again. But that is not the result we want, we want to beat Norway, Cyprus and Portugal because then we know what we will be doing next June. That is important and I think we have to win them all."

Asked if he was surprised about Scotland's recent record against the Danes, Olsen, who took over as Denmark coach in 2000, smiled as he replied: "It is difficult to beat Denmark. But we have to show that tomorrow too.

We want to beat Norway, Cyprus and Portugal because then we know what we will be doing next June.
Morten Olsen, Denmark coach

"We are a small football country in the same situation as Scotland. We have probably been the better in the last years, we have qualified for a lot of tournaments. But I have seen the Scottish squad, there are a lot of players in the Premier League or the Championship or playing for Celtic and Rangers, so they are in a good way."

Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen believes that Olsen's longevity in the post is one reason why Denmark regularly fare better than Scotland, a country of similar size.

The Scots have not qualified for the finals of a major tournament since 1998 and their EURO 2012 fate will probably be decided in next month's qualifying double-header at home against the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

"There have been a lot of different managers at Scotland and there have been brief moments of success but the continuity hasn't been there," said the 35-year-old Sorensen.

"Morten has been in charge for 11 years, he has stuck to his way of playing and most of the time it has paid off. When he took over he tried to get the youth development all the way down to under-15 level and make sure everyone learns the same way of playing."

The Stoke City keeper does not believe it will get any easier for Scotland in the future. "The overall competition among European countries in my time of playing has increased tremendously.

"When there used to be ten good teams, now there are 30 and even against the likes of Liechtenstein and Cyprus, it's a struggle. You have to really play well so it is not easy any more."