McLeish happy to tour again

ALEX McLEISH insists he would take on another mini-tour of North and South America if he felt it would be of benefit to Scotland. A shadow national team completed a heavily-criticised end-of-season trip with a 1-0 defeat to Mexico in the early hours of Sunday. Sunk by a 13th-minute strike from Giovani dos Santos, the Scots staged a dogged backs-to-the wall display in defence and could have snatched a draw when striker Oli McBurnie struck the post with a second-half header. Following on from a 2-0 loss to Peru in Lima, however, McLeish believes the Scots maximised the experience gained from two tough

games against teams preparing for the World Cup finals in Russia and, despite criticism from clubs including Celtic, would do the whole thing again if the circumstances were right. ‘If we were going to a World Cup and maybe we were playing, say in the US, and they are bidding with Canada and Mexico for 2026, if Scotland were playing in a tournament like that then we would have to think about coming and playing a couple of games in South America, with the heat and getting used to altitude,’ said McLeish. ‘By and large, you would maybe prepare more at home. I know the Belgians are going to a World Cup but they are staying in Belgium before they fly out. They’re playing their friendlies in Europe. ‘That may suit the players’ mentality. But I got nothing but positivity from this group of players. ‘It worked out. We made it a good trip.

‘I have to give credit to my backroom staff and I don’t just mean Peter Grant, James McFadden and Jim Stewart.

‘There were no negative endorphins or whatever you want to call it. And the players were very professional. They played a couple of good games, guys who may not have been on the radar to play for the national team. Every one of them has enhanced their reputation.’

McLeish has now used 32 players in four games in charge, giving 16 players a Scotland debut.

While losing three of the games and scoring just one goal, he insists he had to try something different in a quest to end the national team’s 20-year absence from major international finals.

‘I had to do some different things,’ he admitted. ‘We haven’t qualified for 20 years, so I had to try something different.

‘Gordon (Strachan) was unlucky and we’ve looked at games over the last four or five years where our Achilles heel has always been one mistake. By and large, the defence has played well.

‘We have to get a bit of luck and we have to be more potent at the other end. We have to believe in ourselves in terms of the passing of the ball.

‘One thing we encourage is for them to pass it, not to just lump it up the pitch. There are times when you are put under so much pressure that that can happen, but what I was proud of in Mexico was that they tried to pass it.

‘They got caught out a couple of times but they have to persevere with this type of football. Scotland stereotypically is labelled as a team that just lumps it up the pitch, so we have to get away from that. There are times to do it but there are times to pass it.’

McLeish sprung a shock by choosing 21-year-old Scott McKenna as Scotland captain in only his fourth cap.

‘I put Charlie (Mulgrew) the captain, the leader, on the bench because I wanted to see how the two young guys could do together,’ he continued.

‘Jack Hendry has shown he can have a tremendous future in the game and also McKenna, who we made captain tonight.

‘We looked around for the captain and we thought he’s the most experienced! But he is a natural leader coming from the back. His rise has been meteoric.

‘I told him this morning when I named the team — I put it up on the board and there was a wee “c” behind his name in yellow.

‘I said: “Scott is captain”. I know Graeme (Shinnie) is his captain at Aberdeen but it was his first start and I felt Scott deserved it on merit

‘He was burst at the end. I saw Scott’s face and he looked at me and I was praying that there wouldn’t be another player trying a wee one-two against him, or getting in behind him because he was out on his feet. He gave so much.

‘A guy did try to do a one-two on him again but fortunately we had very good cover. That said everything about the team effort and the way they were together.’

Others have also distinguished themselves in the two games in Peru and Mexico.

‘Johnny Russell has come in against Mexico and had a smashing game,’ said McLeish.

‘And big Stephen O’Donnell, coming in at right back, he’s had a meteoric rise.

‘He struggled a wee bit last year and the early part of the season — and now (Kilmarnock manager) Stevie Clarke has coached and trained him.’

That Scotland were outclassed for periods of both games is beyond dispute. Yet, given the personnel available, McLeish believes the results justified the exercise.

‘No doubt there will be some people still not happy,’ he said.

‘I don’t like defeats. It would be great if we took something out of one of the games. We could have taken something out of both games.

‘But I am not worried about myself having a great game record. It is about getting this county to a major finals.’

I got nothing but positivity from the players. We made it a good trip