Naismith: Scots are over World Cup woes
STEVEN Naismith is confident Scotland will have banished their World Cup heartache in time for the beginning of their Nations League campaign this week.
Steve Clarke and his players were left dejected as their playoff defeat at home to Ukraine cost them the chance of going to Qatar later this year.
Coach Naismith believes the Scots will be ready to get back into action when they host Armenia on Wednesday before travelling to Dublin to face Ireland on Saturday.
“It was difficult to lift the mood, more so in the days straight after the game,” said Naismith. “It was a big disappointment for fans, staff, players, everybody but nobody will have been hurting more than the players.
“The expectation they put on themselves is big and then to not hit the heights of what they can do is the biggest thing they’ve been feeling.
“With having the time between the games, there was a bit of down time to let the boys go and shake that off by doing whatever they like doing and then get back focused for what is a new campaign.
“We’ve probably seen the results of that in the last couple of training sessions. It’s been much better than where it was after the Ukraine game.”
Naismith admits the blow of not making the World Cup has been particularly keenly felt because expectations have soared in the Scotland camp since they qualified for Euro 2020 and then embarked on a stirring six-game winning streak at the end of 2021.
“You didn’t need to walk in the changing room and say anything,” said Naismith. “Every one of them understood they’d let a very good opportunity go.
“We’ve had a setback but the good thing is we’ve got three games in quick succession where we can still leave this camp on a positive knowing what a good Nations League campaign can bring at the end of it.”