FIRST STRIKE
Dykes and Christie save abject Scots from humiliation
SCOTLAND avoided a Nations League humiliation last night against a Czech side thrown together at the very last minute.
Steve Clarke’s side had been strong favourites going into the tie after the first string Czech squad had been stood down from duty after a Covid-19 scare in the camp.
Made up of also-rans from the domestic league, and managed by the nation’s
coach, the hosts instead ran Scotland ragged with Clarke’s side hanging on by the end. The positives came from a first international goal from the impressive Lyndon Dykes to cancel out Jakub Pesek’s shock opener and a second penalty in as many games from Ryan Christie. But this was far from the performance Clarke would have wanted ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2020 play-off semi-final with Israel. Captain Andy Robertson went on the defensive after the match and said: ‘It was far from ideal for them but it wasn’t ideal for us. Friday we came out of the (Israel) game thinking it’s cancelled and then Saturday it was uncertain and on Sunday we had to focus on the game. ‘It was not ideal but we dealt with it, dealt with the cards we were given, but we’ve got the three points and we are top of the group. ‘We were on a hiding to nothing. People would have found negatives in whatever we had done tonight but I am not really bothered. That’s five unbeaten so let’s take some positives. ‘It’s a new system under this manager. Some people expect it just to click overnight but it doesn’t happen like that.’ Certainly the performance of Dykes was a shining light over the two fixtures. The former Livingston man, now at Queens Park Rangers, put in another powerful showing and deserved to break his international goal-scoring duck. He said: ‘It was really good. It is obviously good for a striker to get off the mark. ‘It was good to contribute to a 2-1 win but in the end, it was good to get that victory for the boys and three points and get back to Scotland. ‘It was a tough game, it was hard conditions with what happened before the game but in the end we got three points and you couldn’t ask for anything more. ‘It’s obviously given me confidence. Now I’m at QPR, the season starts the week coming so I’m going to go into the season with confidence. ‘I’ve really enjoyed my time, this is my first international with Scotland and I’ve enjoyed every minute. The boys are great, the manager’s great and hopefully there’s many more to come.’ Former skipper Darren Fletcher, however, insisted Scotland’s unsatisfactory victory throws up serious questions about the players and manager. Scotland registered only six attempts at goal compared to the Czech Republic’s 19 and were far from convincing in only just managing to hold on to their fragile lead. And Fletcher said: ‘They’ve had four times as many shots and it’s a real poor performance from Scotland. ‘There will be serious question marks towards the players, towards the formation, towards everything. ‘Scotland did the same thing twice, scored and sat back. ‘David Marshall is man of the match by far, he’s made two or three world-class saves that have kept Scotland in the game.’