Russell to step in for Rhodes

Dundee United man aims to replace Blackburn star

Johnny Russell is well aware he has big boots to fill as he aims to fire Scotland Under-21s to qualification for the UEFA European Championships.

The Dundee United forward is aiming to cope with the pressure placed on himself in the absence of Jordan Rhodes and rise to the challenge.

Rhodes - who sealed a move from Huddersfield to Blackburn last month - has been promoted to the senior squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Macedonia after scoring eight goals for the young Scots last season.

Rhodes was also on target 40 times for Huddersfield and netted on his full international debut against Australia last month but Russell is ready to take over from the star striker as the under-21s' campaign reaches its climax.

He said: "There is a lot of expectation, especially dealing with the loss of somebody like Jordan.

"There are a lot of goals that need to be made up for. Hopefully myself and the rest of the boys can live up to that and hopefully show that we don't miss him too much."

Billy Stark's side host Luxembourg tomorrow night, before travelling to Austria for their final qualifier on Monday. The last meeting with Luxembourg resulted in a comprehensive 5-1 victory for the Scots last October.

Russell said: "We went into that game expecting to win and being expected to win but you need to guard against complacency in games like this.

"If we just do the things that we do right, then we will definitely get a result."