McLeish My young guns are bottlers
Eck: Be like Hoops and don’t take stage fright
Alex McLeish last night admitted his Scotland rookies suffered stage fright against Costa Rica.
And he warned them they’ll need to
start living up to the standards of the Celtic subs – who came on against Costa Rica to salvage their second-half pride – if they want to gatecrash the team for the 2020 qualifiers.
McLeish went without a single Hoops star in his starting line-up in the 1-0 defeat to the Central Americans.
But he admits the arrival of Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong turned the tide and tempo of the game – and that they’re still the benchmark.
McLeish said: “It was a mixed bag on Friday, we started too slowly when we left the dressing room, despite the war cry of high tempo and pressing. They got a bit of stagefright.
“The second half was good. We should have finished with at least a draw. And the subs made an instant impact. Stuart and Callum play together which shows.
“The Celtic players have been instrumental in Scotland’s fortunes over the past few months.
“You know what you’re going to get from them – it’s up to others to reach that standard.”
McLeish is expected to radically alter the personnel of his team to face Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday.
Celtic defender Jack Hendry is expected to make his debut with Grant Hanley standing down, while James Forrest and Ryan Fraser are both likely to start.
McLeish’s main criticism of his team came at the back – although he insists he was happy with Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna’s show.
He said: “The three didn’t work as well as I would have liked. The goal was three guys marking space and not picking up. McKenna had a decent game though. It was a sound debut.”