DON’T TAKE THE MICHAEL
Hodson tells Scotland to keep hands off O’Neill
enough to compete on the big stage. The momentum has just carried on. The belief from a good campaign leading up to the Euros and going to the Euros is still there.
“That’s the main thing, to go into qualifiers at the start of the campaign believing we can top our group. That has shown throughout the current World Cup campaign.
“It’s a credit to the lads and coaching staff that we’ve got to a play-off spot.
“We’ve a difficult task in November and will find out our opponents on Tuesday.
“Reaching another major finals is all that’s on Michael’s mind. And hopefully after the play-offs we’ll have another major tournament to prepare for next summer.”
Hodson admits the margin between success and failure is now so narrow at international level that there’s little to separate Scotland from Northern Ireland other than a sense of self-belief.
He said: “Anyone can qualify if you believe. Scotland were very close. They showed great character to take the issue to the last game and were close to a play-off spot. “They finished strongly in the campaign. “So I don’t think there’s any great difference. We obviously got a few early results in our group that got points in the bag.
“It’s always good to win the first three or four games to get as many points as you can.
“Maybe that was the difference. We took our points early on.
“Northern Ireland is a small nation. It’s a credit to Michael that he has formed a group of players he believes in and that he wanted to push through.
“He’s keen on discipline and it’s effective. He knows what we’re good at, makes sure we play that way and it is effective.”