ECK: DON’T FAIL ME
Gaffer insists Scots must beat Albania
Alex McLeish last night warned only a win over Albania tomorrow night will be acceptable.
Scotland kick off their Nations League campaign with their first ever clash against the Balkan nation.
And McLeish admits defeat would leave his side’s hopes of progression needing a rescue act. The national boss said: “It feels like a must-win game. I can’t sit here and say we don’t need to win and it’s still experimentation time.
“No, of course we want to win
and we must win. If we draw or lose then, for me, it’s a bad start.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t rescue it but we want to get off to a flyer at Hampden.”
Tomorrow marks McLeish’s first competitive game since taking on the Scotland hotseat for a second stint in February.
He has won just a single friendly – a 1-0 victory over Hungary in March thanks to Matt Phillips’ goal.
But he has overseen four losses – to Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico and Friday night’s 4- 0 thrashing by Belgium.
That defeat was Scotland’s heaviest home loss since 1973 and Eck knows the pressure’s on.
But the Scotland boss was still in defiant mood ahead of Albania’s visit.
Despite individual errors leading to goals against Belgium, the gaffer insists the spirit and confidence in the squad are still high.
He said: “I’ve looked back at the Belgium game and I’m heartened big time. I’m in a good mood.
“I know we lost to one of the best teams in the world and there was a bit of a gulf.
“We shot ourselves in the foot and at one stage we were feared it would be 10.
“But a lot was really good too. In the first 10 minutes, our organisation and tactics worked really well.
“We kept our discipline and nearly got on the scoresheet.
“Belgium could have scored five or six against England in the World Cup third-place play-off – and that was without England making the mistakes we did. They’re a good team.
“So the focus is now on Albania. The players’ heads are up again already.
“Albania might watch the Belgium video and think, let’s press Scotland’s defenders and midfielders because they can’t pass.
“But it’s a lesson learned for us. We’re going into the game with positivity.”
McLeish has had Albania watched and said: “I have a report of their win over Israel on Friday night – but I’ll keep that to myself.”