Boss Alex won’t be feeling the Euro mania if his side can’t beat Albania

ALEX McLEISH is ready for his competitive return as Scotland boss – and confessed that it is already a MUST-WIN against Albania.

The national team gaffer is just seven months and five games into his second spell in charge.

But after suffering a heaviest home defeat since 1973 against Belgium at Hampden on Friday, McLeish knows the pressure is on to start their Nations League campaign with a victory.

He admits anything other than three points against the Albanians tomorrow will be unacceptable if Scotland are to progress towards potential Euro 2020 qualification.

McLeish said: “It feels like a must-win game. I can’t sit here and say we don’t need to win and it’s still experimentation time.

“No, of course we want to win – and we must win.

“If we draw or lose then, for me, it’s a bad start. It doesn’t mean we can’t rescue it but we want to get off to a flyer at Hampden on Monday night.”

So far, McLeish has been on the wrong end of four friendly losses to Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico and the Belgians.

The Scots have scored just one goal since he took over in February – a Matt Phillips’ winner against Hungary.

But in the aftermath of Friday’s 4-0 drubbing, McLeish (above) was still in defiant mood. Despite individual errors from players leading directly to goals, the manager is adamant that spirit and confidence in the camp is still high.

He said: “I’ve looked back at the Belgium game and I’m heartened big time. I’m in a good mood. I know we lost to one of the best teams in the world and there was a bit of a gulf but a lot was really good.

“Even in the first 10 minutes, our organisation and tactics were working really well.

“So the focus is on Monday night. The players’ heads are up again already.

“We shot ourselves in the foot against Belgium and at one stage we were hoping it wouldn’t be 10. “But we kept our discipline and nearly got on the scoresheet, which was encouraging. “Belgium could have scored five or six against England in the World Cup third-place play-off – and that was without England making the mistakes we did. They’re a good team.

“Albania might watch the video and think, ‘Let’s press Scotland’s defenders and midfielders because they can’t pass the ball’. But there were a couple of mistakes you wouldn’t normally see and it’s a lesson learned for us.

“We’re going into the game with positivity. I have a report of their win over Israel on Friday, which I’ll keep to myself.” SCOTT McDERMOTT