MATT RITCHIE is hoping Friday’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley will be the “special moment” that propels Scotland towards the 2018 finals in Russia.

Ritchie, who has scored four goals in 16 appearances since joining Newcastle United in a £12m move from Bournemouth in the summer, will be part of the Scotland side that lines up against England looking to spring a huge surprise after a disappointing start to World Cup qualifying.

A win over Malta was followed by a lacklustre draw to Lithuania and a heavy defeat to Slovakia that have already placed a huge question mark against Scotland’s prospects of qualifying for the 2018 tournament.

Gordon Strachan’s side could find themselves six points adrift of England by the end of Friday night, and a defeat at Wembley would leave them at major risk of missing out on even a play-off place even though more than half of the qualifying campaign is still to go.

Scotland were the only home nation not to be involved in last summer’s European Championships, but Ritchie is urging his team-mates to take inspiration from the Republic of Ireland’s route to the finals in France.

Ireland looked all but certain to miss out on Euro 2016 until they pulled off a shock win over Germany, and Ritchie is desperate for Scotland to spring a similar surprise on Friday.

“I’ve been to Wembley before, for club games, but this will be the biggest game of my career, if hopefully I’m involved,” said Ritchie. “You can make history in these games as a team.

“To qualify you need a bit of luck, a special moment – Ireland beat Germany at the Aviva Stadium when no one expected it. You need a game like that. To qualify, you need something big to happen.

“We have work ethic and quality in the group, a bit of everything. England have top, top Premier League footballers, but we have quality too.

“We have good young talent, and there is also a hunger to achieve something. It will be a tough test, but we’ll love it.”

Ritchie is one of two Newcastle players in the Scotland squad, as he will be joined by team-mate Grant Hanley, who will be hoping to start at centre-half.

The pair have been regular participants under Gordon Strachan, and while the Scotland manager’s job is hanging in the balance after his side’s poor results in the last two months, Ritchie remains a staunch supporter of the former Middlesbrough boss.

“He’s been fantastic for me,” said Ritchie. “He gives players freedom. He is bright, charismatic, upbeat – never beaten.

“He always wants to work hard and train, and we enjoy his training. All the lads, I speak for the whole squad, enjoy meeting up and trying to achieve something together.”

It was Strachan who first called Ritchie into the Scotland squad two years ago, with the winger pledging himself to his father’s homeland even though he was born in the Hampshire town of Gosport on England’s south coast.

His formative footballing years were spent in Portsmouth’s academy, and he spent two years with Swindon before moving to Bournemouth, but he remains fiercely proud of his Scottish roots.

“My dad, who’s from Edinburgh, used to say, ‘One day son, you’ll play for Scotland’,” said Ritchie. “I had that from a very young age all the time.

“The manager (Strachan) called and said, ‘Are you Scottish? Do you feel Scottish? The answer was, ‘Yes, yes’. I’ve loved it ever since.”

Friday’s game will be easily his biggest in a Scotland shirt, and while England will start as strong favourites, Ritchie feels the current side are more than capable of emulating the Scottish teams that won at Wembley in 1999 and 1977.

The 27-year-old is urging his team-mates not to get too hung up on their struggles in relation to their British and Irish neighbours, with Scotland currently ranked lower than England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

None of that will matter on Friday, with Scotland’s players hoping their unity and spirit will enable them to out-perform an English team who are still in the rebuilding phase following their humiliating exit from Euro 2016.

“The success for Wales and Northern Ireland (in the summer) put pressure on Scotland,” said Ritchie. “But they weren’t in our qualifying group and had different journeys to the Euros.

“It’s a huge occasion. We want a good performance to pick up a point or three.”