LET’S HAVE A GOOD NIGHT VIENNA
Captain Robbo reckons Austria is crunch time for our World Cup hopes as he targets three points
ANDY ROBERTSON savoured a special Saturday – now the Scotland skipper is eyeing up a transformative Tuesday.
The Liverpool ace clocked up a half-century of caps in the 1-0 win over Moldova at Hampden.
It was a moment of satisfaction for the captain and his loved ones.
However, you get the feeling the 27-year-old would trade all his past appearances if he could supply the nation with another uplifting result against Austria tomorrow evening.
The Scots stumbled out of the Group F traps with just five points from their first four games but Lyndon Dykes’ weekend winner means Steve Clarke’s World Cup salvage mission is back on.
Now they fly out for a fixture upon which Scotland’s entire hopes of reaching Qatar could hang.
Victory in Vienna, combined with a win for group leaders Denmark at home to Israel, would fire the Scots into second place and the play-off driving seat with four games to go.
With the run-in including trips to whipping boys Moldova and the Faroe Islands in October and November, there should be no shortage of motivation when Robbo’s team run out at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.
From fearing another qualification calamity, Scotland could be back in the hunt if they take care of an Austrian line-up still in shock over being crushed 5-2 by the Israelis.
Robertson, whose side kicked off this window’s triple-header with a sobering 2-0 loss to the Danes in Copenhagen five days ago, said: “We knew when the fixtures came out we looked at this as a big week, even not knowing what we would do beforehand.
“Playing the two seeds who are above you away from home is always big. It was a disappointing night on Wednesday.
“On Saturday it was important we got the three points. Now Tuesday we go over there and try to win.
“They probably need to win now as well given their result against Israel, so I’m sure they will come out quick and try to get the three points.
“Only time will tell. They’ll be disappointed after Saturday night and will want to bounce back, same as we did on Wednesday.
“There was not much between us in the home game. We went behind twice and came back.
“We need to try to keep them out but create the chances we did that night again because we did have a few. We were quite clinical that night and we need to be again.
“These are the games you want to be involved in but they’re only good if you get the points. Hopefully we get them on Tuesday.”
With Champions League and Premier League winner’s medals tucked away in the back pocket, Robertson is starting to look like the man who has everything now he’s added a berth in the SFA’s Hall of Fame to his collection of honours.
The left-back, who made his debut in a 1-0 victory over Poland in 2014, said: “It was a huge night for me and my family – I’m proud to get 50 caps.
“When you get one, you just want to keep going and you don’t think too far ahead.
“This milestone is huge for me, I love playing for my country, I love turning up.
“It was important I put that to one side. We needed the win, we got off to a good start, got the goal and we should have got more.
“It was one of those nights when three points was the most important thing. I’d love to be sitting here with a 3-0 or 4-0 victory but it’s three points on the board.”
There was a smattering of boos at the final whistle as a frustrated section of the Tartan Army made their feelings clear after a toothless display left Clarke sweating on the result right into stoppage time. Robertson was among the guilty parties after slicing wide with a big first-half chance.
Kieran Tierney, Billy Gilmour and Ryan Christie also failed to find the net as a bright display was soured by some woeful finishing.
The Moldovans – ranked 175th in the world – were never likely to threaten Craig Gordon’s goal.
That is unlikely to be the case against Franco Foda’s fired-up outfit after their humbling in Haifa.
And Robertson – whose side have netted just twice in their last five games – admits it is time to sharpen up.
He said: “I should have got one against Moldova. There are a few
players who will be disappointed with the chances they had and I’m one of them.
“I just saw Kevin Nisbet at the last minute, on the six-yard box, knowing he wants the ball in there. Unfortunately I took my eye off it.
“For me, I’ve got to at least hit the target and ideally put it in the back of the net.
“Ryan just inside the box wants to do better, KT with the header maybe wants to do better, Billy… you could rhyme off four or five chances.
“Luckily it didn’t cost us but on another night it could have. We have to start taking these chances when they fall to us. “We have to be confident. We’re creating the chances, that’s one of the big things. But it’s time to start taking them. “In the summer there were a couple of downfalls and one of them was the chances we didn’t take. “When you look back at the Czech game and the chances we missed, we need to get more clinical as a team. “We have players who score at the highest level, at international level, and it’s just about doing that more regularly.”