Head coach Frank Hadden has insisted Scotland will not live in fear of facing World Cup runners-up England despite suffering a third convincing defeat in the Six Nations against Ireland.

Scotland conceded five tries in a 34-13 loss at Croke Park, with Simon Webster's crossover their first of the tournament.

The Scots sit bottom of the table ahead of the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield on March 8, when they must face an England side who are back in contention for the title following their impressive win in Paris.

Another Wooden Spoon could be looming, and Scotland's misery in Dublin was exacerbated by a suspected broken leg for Leicester lock James Hamilton, who was carried off in the closing stages.

But Hadden maintains there were signs of progress and believes Scotland can cause an upset if they show more composure and maturity against the Auld Enemy.

"We are still sitting here thinking we have got no reason to fear England," he said.

"We are not getting out-muscled: it's not as if teams are running rings round us. We are making some immature errors in important areas of the pitch.

"I keep referring to immaturity and then we get another injury and the squad gets even younger.

"I don't think there is any problem about getting up to play England. I am very confident we can do that special thing for our fans at Murrayfield.

"We don't see anybody in this championship as hugely daunting - but we know we have to rise to the challenge and make some progress."

Scotland showed more attacking intent in the Irish capital than during their defeats against France and Wales.

"There have been situations in all the games we have played where the game could have turned somewhere," Hadden continued.

"That's the disappointment: we are not making the most of these opportunities."

However, the Scotland boss still believes his team, who had fly-half Chris Paterson at the heart of many of their moves, are on the right track.

"I thought Chris went pretty well," the former Edinburgh boss said. "He looked threatening when he came into the ball.

"There was no shortage of effort in the build-up to try to create a situation where we were close to winning the game.

"It sounds ridiculous to say it's a step forward because the scoreboard doesn't lie, but we felt progress was made."

As well as a serious injury to lock Jim Hamilton, Scotland will assess fitness problems for three other players who went off needing treatment.

Kelly Brown and Euan Murray suffered rib injuries while Scott MacLeod - given a reprieve after testing positive for asthma medication - damaged a shoulder.

Sporting Life / Eurosport