Russell Martin admits he is jealous of Norwich team-mates on their way to Euro 2016 as Scotland man heads home

Russell Martin (centre), pictured holding off the challenge of Giacomo Bonaventura in Scotland’s friendly

Norwich captain Russell Martin admits he will spend the summer jealous of Carrow Road team-mates handed a ticket to the Euro 2016 party.

Robbie Brady and Wes Hoolahan will line up for the Republic of Ireland in the same group as Italy, Belgium and clubmate Martin Olsson’s Sweden.

Kyle Lafferty, meanwhile, will also go to France with Northern Ireland while Scotland players watch the action on television.

Admitting the experience will be a painful one, Martin said: ‘I’m extremely envious of the guys who’ll be at the Euros,.

‘I hope my club mates do well, but at the same time I’m jealous. If I’m honest I’d like to switch off from the Euros when they’re on – but I know I won’t.

‘I’m not sure I’ll watch it all. I want to because I love football but it will just remind me we’re sat at home. Seeing the teams we came up against in qualifying will be difficult.

Travel chaos permitting, Gordon Strachan’s side will be given a brief glimpse at the goods in France this weekend.

Scotland provide the final warm-up opposition for the hosts in Metz on Saturday, albeit a strike by air-traffic controllers could impact on the itineraries of 1,200 members of the Tartan Army.

Martin says he is jealous of his Norwich team-mates playing at this summer’s European Championship

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In contrast with last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Italy, however, Martin says the team have to turn up this time if they are to avoid embarrassment.

‘France will want to head into the Euros with a bang so we’ll need to raise it significantly. It’s their final game before the Euros but it’s not something to fear. It’s something to be excited about and look forward to.

‘We want to end the season on a high, you don’t want to go into the summer on the back of a bad performance and a bad result so we are conscious of that.

‘We have to mindful of that and come away with a bit of pride. They’ll be at it, but it’s nothing to worry about.

Martin and Scotland are playing two post-season friendlies, against Italy and France, before heading home

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‘It will be the kind of atmosphere we’re going to miss out on this summer so hopefully it can whet our appetite for what lies ahead. It’s hard being a warm up act, but we want to give them something to think about.’

Assistant manager Mark McGhee was the latest to defend the decision to take on end-of-season friendlies with the potential to drain morale as much as legs.

Strong in defence, but weaker in front of goal, few expect Italy to feature in the final mix next month. Yet, still, they gave Scotland an extremely long night. The gulf between the teams was marked.

‘It was a tough old shift against the Italians, they are a very good side,’ said McGhee. ‘What disappointed me was that we didn’t move the ball as well as we have done in recent games and we couldn’t really get at them.

‘What did we take from it? It showed us where we need to try to get to and what level we’ll need to be at if we want to be among the best teams in Europe.

‘They had different players, all with different qualities and it was a good test in that regard. It was extremely hard work but we’re going to be up against that if we want to qualify for the World Cup.

‘That’s the biggest thing we took from the game, that and the fact we stuck at it. Maybe in seasons gone by it could have been a much worse result.

‘The quality wasn’t what it should be but we move on to France now.’