Marshall strikes a positive note amid a night of negatives
FIRST, the positives. A rare Scotland away victory over a higher ranked nation saw Steve Clarke’s side go five matches unbeaten.
The national team boss can point to his side sitting atop of their Nations League group with four points from their opening two matches.
Yet to witness this poor Scotland performance against a Czech ‘B’ team thrown together at the last minute was a reminder of an old adage. The one about statistics often being employed in much the same way as a drunk uses a lamppost: for support and not illumination.
For goalkeeper David Marshall, however, the unique circumstances leading into last night’s horribly unconvincing 2-1 win in Olomouc means the Scotland players were on a hiding to nothing.
As it stands, he believes the momentum from a lengthy unbeaten run is grounds for optimism ahead of next month’s make-or-break Euro 2020 play-off against Israel at Hampden.
‘There was not going to be any praise for us tonight regardless of the result,’ he said after goals from Lyndon Dykes and a Ryan Christie penalty secured victory.
‘We could have won three, four or five nil and everyone would say it was expected. It was a lose-lose situation for us.
‘But we have four points from our first two games and we can be positive about the group ahead of the play-off next month.
‘It’s always good to be unbeaten in five games now. We are all desperate to get to the game next month.
‘I think there was a bit of tension in the group. It was not a nice situation for us.
‘The boys are not daft. We knew the reaction would have been like if we did not win the game. Winning was the only thing we could do and we have done it. We didn’t get off to a great start but we showed character to come back and win.
‘This is a situation that has probably never happened before.
‘The build-up to the game was very strange, in what information we had on who we were going to play then finding out how they play.
‘It was a bizarre situation. We all knew it would be a fast start because it was a one-off game for them and they were desperate to show what they could do.
‘We didn’t start as well as we could have, to be honest, but the most important thing is we got the three points.’ Scotland captain Andy Robertson concurred with the thinking of the experienced Derby County keeper.
‘I think we probably were on a hiding to nothing,’ he nodded.
‘It was far from ideal for the Czech Republic but far from ideal for us as well.
‘Coming out of the Israel game on Friday night, we thought this game was off and that we would be heading home instead. It wasn’t ideal but we coped. We’ve played with the hand we’ve been dealt.
‘People would have found negatives in whatever we did tonight. That’s five (matches) unbeaten tonight, so let’s take some positives.
‘It’s always tough, any international game. Falling behind, we knew they would be full of character, with a lot of them winning first caps, and proud to represent country.
‘We had to match that first start but we didn’t settle down. After that, we settled down well, got in front, then defended when they threw five or six up front in the last ten minutes.
‘Three points, we’re top of the group and we can’t complain.’
Scotland struggled with a three at the back but Robertson insists they will be ready for the play-off as he issued a plea for patience and unity.
He said: ‘It’s a new system and some people expect it to click overnight.
‘We had some teething problems on Friday against Israel but we’ve
looked more solid defensively in the last couple of games.
‘We are now going into the biggest game for a long, long time.
‘Let’s get the country behind us to get into the Euros.
‘We need everyone behind us, we need the positivity and everyone pushing us
‘We look forward to a big October — it’s make or break.’
One big positive was the performance of Dykes, who built on his promising international debut with his first goal — a terrific striker’s finish — for his country.
The £2million Queens Park Rangers striker said: ‘It was a tough game but we got three points and we couldn’t ask for any more.
‘It was really good to score. It’s always good for a striker to get off the mark and it was good to contribute to the win.
‘Just getting the victory was good, so we are going back to Scotland with three points.
‘This has obviously given me confidence. I’ve really enjoyed my first international experience with Scotland. Hopefully there are many more to come.’