GORDON Strachan says Ryan Fraser is "not scared of anybody" and has likened the Cherries winger to the hard-running superstars of Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund.

Strachan's Scotland squad assembled over the weekend to begin their preparations for Saturday's enticing World Cup qualifier against England at Hampden Park.

Fraser's previous call-up ended in frustration when he was struck down by injury on the verge of winning his first cap against Canada or Slovenia.

But Strachan has seen enough of the Cherries man to be certain he would have no fear about receiving his international baptism in the furnace of an Auld Enemy battle.

In particular, the Scotland boss believes he has a player on his hands to compare with those bastions of high-pressing at Spurs and German giants Dortmund.

"Ryan is feeling good about himself," said Strachan. "He wanted to come to training. You think, ‘wow, he is not scared of anybody’.

“He is a modern-day footballer, like the Dortmund and Tottenham guys, who close down and pressure people, and then play after it.

“Some can not do that because they do not have the fitness level and when they get the ball back, they are tired – but he can do both.

“The days of the old footballers standing about waiting for the ball have just gone.”

Scotland sealed a priceless last-gasp victory over Slovenia in March, a result that kept them firmly in the running for second spot in Group F, behind runaway leaders England.

If they can beat Slovakia and Slovenia to that runners-up place, the Tartan Army would face a play-off for the right to go to next year's World Cup finals in Russia.

Strachan's team were easily beaten by the Three Lions last November. But the manager – who played for his country at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals – says Fraser's experience of facing England's players in the Premier League could make him a key figure in the Scots' attempts to avenge their 3-0 defeat at Wembley.

"It’s another thing you take into consideration," said Strachan, an Aberdeen player when he broke into the Scotland set up in 1980.

“I remember the first time I played against the likes of Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. I thought ‘wow, this is a bit different’.

“Even when I played Brazil in 1982, they were different animals, with their core strength, their height, their power – we just got blown away.

“It’s not a good place to get a surprise, the middle of Hampden, so you do take into consideration who knows these people.

“When I played against them later on, I knew what to expect.”