Craig Levein feels Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifier at home to the Czech Republic will make or break their hopes of qualification.

Scotland boss would like to see England in Carling Nations Cup

Craig Levein feels Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifier at home to the Czech Republic will make or break their hopes of qualification.

The Scots take on Michal Bilek's side at Hampden Park on 3rd September in what will be their next competitive outing.

They face Denmark in a friendly at the same venue in August before vital qualifiers against Lithuania, Liechtenstein and Spain.

Levein knows if his side have any chance of making it to Poland and Ukraine next summer, they will have to beat a resilient Czech side, who have already beaten Scotland in Prague earlier in the season.

The Czechs are five points ahead of Scotland having played one game more in Group I as Levein's men aim to secure second place and a crack at the play-offs.

Must-win

He told Sky Sports News: "The next three matches are must-win if we are intent on reaching the second spot in the tournament.

"From the start of the campaign my thoughts were that we would need to beat the Czech Republic at home and it becomes the most important game in the section."

And despite Scotland narrowly miss out on the inaugural Carling Nations Cup to the Republic of Ireland, Levein believes the get-together was a benefit to his side.

He said: "I often bemoan not having enough time to spend with the players, so I've been very fortunate the Carling Nations Cup was on this year and we have gained enormously from it.

"We've introduced some new players, we've managed to create a real team mentality and we've got a group of players I'm extremely proud to be the manager of."

Worthwhile

The former Dundee United boss is certain the tournament was a worthwhile exercise and would love to see England involved next time around.

He added: "I hear rumours that that's a possibility for two years' time.

"It isn't my job to organise the tournament, I can just say from my own point of view it was an excellent tournament for us and it brought a lot of things we otherwise wouldn't have had.

"I'd like to manage Scotland for as many games as I can and if England are included in the tournament in a couple of years' time that'd be great."

From the start of the campaign my thoughts were that we would need to beat the Czech Republic at home and it becomes the most important game in the section.Craig Levein on Czech Republic clash