Russell Martin will take on the world champions on Sunday evening – but the surroundings won't be entirely alien to the Norwich City captain.

Scotland travel to Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion for their opening Euro 2016 qualifier, with Martin set to line-up at the heart of the visitors' defence under Gordon Strachan. And it was another Scot who ensured the City star will be making a return to one of world football's truly stunning venues.

'It is a fantastic place,' said Martin. 'When I was at Wycombe, Paul Lambert was the manager and he had played at Dortmund obviously. He's a legend at that club and he took us over for a trip. We got a tour of the stadium and played against the Dortmund Under-23s. It's a special place, especially with the huge terrace behind the goal.

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'We didn't play there, we just got a tour and watched a game. But that was an experience. It's a beautiful stadium and I'm really looking forward to playing there.

'I'm going back now with Scotland and it's been a long journey for me. But I'm glad I did it this way. It makes me appreciate what I have and makes me determined to stay at this level.'

Having been previously acquainted with the venue, Martin is also sure his Premier League battles with two of Germany's stars will help him deal with this summer's World Cup winners in Brazil.

'I've played against Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski, and they are top players,' he added. 'Ozil gets a lot of flak in the English media but my experience of him was as a very, very good player. His touch was great and he scored against us last year. Podolski is a totally different player, direct and powerful, but they have both played at the very top level for a long time.

'Playing against them before is a bit of a help. But they have good players all over the pitch and it's about us knowing exactly what everyone has to do.'

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