IT was the German equivalent of “if you scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours”. Manuel Neuer was being diplomatic – his national team have rarely needed anyone’s help to achieve their goals – but the sentiment from the Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper was welcomed nevertheless.

If Scotland are to have any chance of reaching Euro 2016 – and, admittedly, it looks a long shot – then they need both Germany and Poland to deny the Republic of Ireland victory in their two remaining Group D games. Extra motivation for Joachim Loew’s side stems from the memory of Germany’s home match against the Irish when John O’Shea’s late, late goal deprived them of the win. Tickling his audience on the tummy, Neuer insisted they would be out for revenge next month and would be doing all they could to help keep Scotland’s fading Euro dreams alive.

“We want to help Scotland by winning in Dublin,” said Neuer, just about holding back from offering an accompanying wink. “Of course we do. In the first game against Ireland, we only got a draw so it’s important for us that we win.

“We want revenge against Ireland and we also want to help Scotland qualify because the fans were great [at Hampden] on Monday. At the end of the game, they applauded the German fans and team and that was a kind act. Our target is to be top of the group.”

In return, the Germans want something from the Scots. Their next game is at home to Poland, the only team that can realistically prevent Germany from topping the group. With two teams qualifying automatically for next summer’s finals in France there would seem to be little difference between finishing first and second but Neuer still hopes Scotland can do Die Mannschaft a turn.

“Maybe Scotland can help us by beating Poland while we are playing in Ireland,” added Neuer. “The game is at Hampden Park and that’s never an easy place to play. It was tough for us to score three goals in Glasgow.

“I hope that Scotland will take a draw minimum but Poland are a good team and are difficult to play against. They have so many hunters in attack and they break fast.”

Neuer pinpointed his Bayern team-mate as a man to watch out for. “Robert Lewandowski is a great striker. He makes it hard for defenders and goalkeepers so Scotland will have to pay attention to him all the time. He doesn’t need much space to score goals. Robert scored against me [in Germany’s recent 3-1 win over Poland] but we won’t joke about that. We didn’t speak about the last game [when Poland won 2-0] and we won’t speak about this one!”

Neuer, surprisingly, felt that Martin O’Neill’s Irish side play a more attractive brand of football than their Scottish counterparts.

“In my opinion, Ireland play better football and use the ball more. In the second half against us last week, the Scottish team played kick and rush football. They sat very deep in the first half and just didn’t want to play at all.

“The Irish team use the ball and play more – but it’s not easy to do that against Germany. It’s going to be hard for Scotland to qualify and I think the big problem was the defeat in Georgia.

“It was always going to be difficult to play against us and to win against us, but Scotland have to fight. They have to look forward with hope and keep fighting to get to the finals.”