SCOTLAND centre Matt Scott has called on the Tartan Army to shake off their tag as "gallant losers" and make history by beating England at Twickenham this afternoon.

It is 32 years since Scotland last won at the home of English rugby and a shock victory would revive a campaign that has included defeats, albeit narrow ones, in each of their RBS 6 Nations matches so far.

Some bookmakers have Vern Cotter's side at 9/1 to lift the Calcutta Cup, and Scott admits their poor record at Twickenham will be on their minds.

"It does have an effect, for me personally it's a massive opportunity to make history," Scott said. "The history is hard to ignore. People talk about that team that won in 1983 and personally I use it as a great motivation.

"Every Scotland-England game has a massive build-up and it's a massive emotional experience. It's hard to describe but it's such a great occasion to play in - the players do channel the history, the number of years we haven't won - the players use that, it's a powerful tool."

Scott added: "Words can't describe what it would be like for us to win. We've not won down there in my lifetime, so it would be unbelievable."

Despite the results, Scotland have shown signs of progress in recent weeks and will take heart from the fact their narrow losses to France, Wales and Italy came to an accumulative difference of just 13 points.

"Our responsibility as players is to shake off that tag of gallant losers - that we play well but we lose - we need to get over that winning line," Scott said.

"We're used to being the underdog, especially against England, and quite rightly so because the last few years England have beaten us, so that's only fair. We've had that before where we've been written off and then come back and played really well.

"It's great motivation to see everyone writing you off, it gives you that extra spark. It's going to be a massive challenge at Twickenham, it's a great stadium, I love playing there, and it will be a great occasion."

Scott, who has 23 caps for his country, comes into Scotland's midfield for Alex Dunbar, who ruptured his cruciate ligament in training and will be out for six to nine months.

"I'm absolutely devastated for him because it was such an innocuous injury in training and for it to be so serious - I'm really gutted for him," Scott said. "I sent him a text after he had done it saying I hoped the news was good and he texted me back later saying it was bad news and that he couldn't believe it.

"I really hope he can make his recovery in time for the World Cup because he's a player who has been in excellent form and a player we need playing for us. I'm just going to try to replicate the performances he's been putting in and hopefully I can do that today."

Meanwhile, Andy Farrell has demanded England react to their setback in Dublin by keeping themselves relevant to the title race.

A chastening 19-9 loss to Ireland has left England needing the champions to slip up against Wales if they are to seize a first crown under Stuart Lancaster, and Farrell admits his players are determined to atone for an afternoon of disappointment at the Aviva Stadium.

"What happened against Ireland is a massive factor for this game," England's backs coach said. "If you put that alongside the fact we are still in with a shout of winning the competition, then those two things together are a pretty powerful thing leading up to this game. Hopefully we'll put in a performance that matters.

"You learn a lot from a loss. Lads who haven't been in that type of position before will have learnt a lot.

"Did we let ourselves down against Ireland? We didn't play our best, but Ireland, like most good sides, have a way of making an impact on the game and they did that very successfully.

"There is a determination to put a performance in this afternoon."