MAN of the match Callum McGregor was delighted with last night’s 2-0 win over Albania which gives Scotland an excellent start to their UEFA Nations League three country group, which also includes Israel.
“We were still positive at half-time. We were having success in getting up the pitch and creating a few chances so it was all about keeping believing in the game plan and that we would eventually get the goals,” the Celtic star said.
“Fortunately for us, we scored early on after the break and then got another to put the game to bed. It was good to win our first competitive game.
“We were after a win and we were able to take some positives from Friday night’s defeat by Belgium, which helped us take all three points.
“This game was always the most important one because it was a competitive tie. If we hadn’t won tonight then the negativity would have started to grow and grow. As it is, we got the win and it puts us level on points with Albania, with a game in hand as well – and we’ll go again next month.
“We’d lost three games in a row but you saw the quality of the opposition we were up against – all three were at the World Cup finals this summer. You want to test yourself and you understand what level we’re at and what we’re trying to build.
“But we delivered when it mattered tonight and now we’ve got off to the good start which was what we’d wanted to do.”
And Callum had some positive words for Alex McLeish, who really needed the win last night after a dreadful run of results in the friendly matches since resuming the role as Scotland manager.
“We’re learning all the time and the manager is trying to get his points across and you can see us getting there with every game we play.
“This win will be massive in terms of the group’s confidence and that will help going forward.
“We needed the victory after the Belgium game because you then trust what you’ve been doing and it gives you momentum. It’s also important that we got the fans behind us and that they start to believe in us as well. We want to get everyone onside as a nation again.”
READ David Potter’s TV reflections on Scotland 2 Albania 0 HERE…
And also READ Scotland 2 Albania 0 – A welcome relief from his Rangers EBT woes for Alex McLeish..HERE
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