McGhee lays it on the line for Scotland players

MARK McGhee has laid it on the line for Scotland — any more slip-ups and your World Cup dream is over.

Gordon Strachan’s right-hand man admits the national team must end their qualifying campaign with four straight wins if they are to have any hope of reaching Russia next summer.

The Scots sit fourth in Group F and McGhee believes only a perfect 12 points from 12 will give them a chance of sneaking past rivals Slovakia and Slovenia to clinch second behind unbeaten leaders England.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Lithuania in Vilnius, McGhee said: “We simply can’t afford any more mistakes. That is the position we’re in and there’s no hiding from that.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh if they slip up and we do this or that we might have a chance’.

“I think we have to assume we have to win all four games, so we’ll roll our sleeves up, starting tomorrow.”

But, while Strachan’s men face an uphill struggle to climb back on to the kind of major stage they have not graced since 1998, McGhee reckons the fixture list does provide them with scope to build up momentum.

After tomorrow’s showdown with a team bossed by former Hearts frontman Edgaras Jankauskas, Scotland then welcome Malta to Hampden on Monday.

McGhee hopes they can take maximum points from those two clashes and set up a dramatic section finale with Slovakia due in Glasgow on October 5 before a potentiallydecisive trip to Slovenia three days later.

He said: “To have what on paper looks like the less difficult games at the end of the campaign is the right order. There is no doubt if we win these two games this weekend we will take some beating in the last couple.”

Ray McKinnon