Steven Pressley arrived in Portugal determined to prove he can handle some of the world's top strikers - and with the taunts of room-mate Stevie Crawford ringing in his ears.

Crawford beat two other Hearts defenders before nutmegging Pressley on his way to scoring Dunfermline Athletic's third goal in a 3-1 win over Hearts on Sunday.

Minutes later they were sharing a car rushing through to Glasgow, where they had to catch a flight to Portugal with the rest of the Scotland party.

The pair, both brought up in the Dunfermline area, will be sharing a room in Guimaraes as they prepare for Wednesday's friendly in Braga.

Seve was giving him more stick than I was Scotland striker Stevie Crawford

And Crawford told BBC Scotland: "I will be keeping Elvis aware of the nutmeg."

Midfielder Scott Severin, who was also on the same car journey, had given Hearts the lead at East End Park.

"I was surprised that Seve was giving him more stick than I was," revealed Crawford.

The joking will stop as the Scots attempt to build on their Euro 2004 qualifying victory in Iceland.

"I have been struggling with a back injury, but there was no way I was going to miss out after waiting so long to get back in the squad," said Crawford.

Crawford will find himself with a new strike partner, with Dundee United's Steven Thompson having pulled out through injury.

Pressley (right) is delighted to play Portugal

"It's good that in the last couple of games we have struck up a partnership," he said.

"Unfortunately, he is missing out this time, but I am sure that the manager will want to have a look at other players anyway."

Pressley said: "We are certainly looking forward to the challenge.

"It is a great opportunity to pit our wits against world class players.

"Iceland is the big game, but these are the opportunities to get the team together and give players like myself more experience at this level and get things right come next March."