SCOTLAND Under-21 coach Billy Stark admitted that tonight's friendly match against Norway will be a rollercoaster of emotions in the wake of Tommy Burns' death.
The funeral of Stark's friend and former team-mate was due to take place at St Mary's Church in Glasgow today, just hours before kick-off at Rugby Park.
Burns, capped eight times for Scotland, died at the age of just 51 last week after losing his
battle against skin cancer and a host of football stars, including a number of the Under-21s squad and coaches, will pay their respects.
The former Celtic and Kilmarnock manager worked with a number of Stark's squad including Scott Cuthbert, who will skipper the side tonight and Paul Caddis, who is ruled out of the game through injury.
Stark is determined to get the right result in the international challenge match as a mark of respect for his friend but conceded: "It's been a difficult few days but you have to get on as best you can.
"It is as difficult as it gets, to be honest, so you just need to try to get through it.
"When you're here preparing the youngsters you need to be focused on the game and that's what I have done.
"It's going to be an emotional day but hopefully the boys can go out there and put in a good performance and get the right result."
The full article contains 244 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
