Berra demanding more of same

Defender wants to see repeat of attacking pace that troubled Lithuania

Scotland defender Christophe Berra insists they can’t afford to let the pace drop when they meet Malta at Hampden tonight.

Gordon Strachan’s men left Lithuania in shock by the speed and ferocity of their attacking play in the LFF Stadium in Vilnius on Friday night.

Goals from Stuart Armstrong, Andy Robertson and James McArthur earned a thoroughly deserved 3-0 win on the plastic pitch and helped keep hopes of qualification from World Cup Group F alive.

Next up for the Scots is the home clash with the Maltese minnows, with another convincing victory surely there for the taking.

That would move them up to the 14-point mark and, with Slovakia facing the toughest of fixtures against group leaders England at Wembley, they could be only a single point off second spot come the end of the night.

However, Berra warned that they must be as relentless going forward as they were against the Lithuanians if they are to make that happen.

The Hearts skipper said: “I think the one thing you really fear as a defender is pace.

“It can stretch teams and we did that to Lithuania.

“The lads caused them all sorts of problems because they were so quick.

“It is looking good and now what we have to do is reproduce it against Malta.

“Going away from home with Scotland you always expect a tough game but I think we could have won by more.

“We scored three goals but it could have been four or five.

“It ended up a comfortable night for us.

“Over, the piece we kept them quite quiet while some of the football we played was really good.

“Some of the interchanges between the midfielders, the forwards and wide men were great.

“That also helped make our job at the back so much easier because you do defend from the front.

“If we perform like that again against Malta then we should win.

“They can be stuffy opponents, though, and I noticed they held England goalless until well after half-time.

“In the end it will be down to us and how we perform,” he added.

“We need to show the same character and desire we did on Friday in order to pick up the three points.

“When you cross that white line it is about attitude so we have to make sure, after setting our standards high in Lithuania, that we produce that kind of performance again.

“It should be a comfortable night but anything can happen in a game. You can lose a soft goal or get a player sent off and the match changes, so we have to be wary.”

Berra feels Armstrong can be a key man for the Scots again this evening after getting his first goal for his country in Vilnius.

The central defender praised the instant impact made by the former Dundee United star at international level.

“Stuart had a great season last year and is playing for a top team in Celtic who are playing really good football and have qualified for the Champions League,” he said.

“All those Celtic boys are full of confidence and it is helping Scotland.

“I have only known Stuart briefly and he is still young but you can tell straight away that he has a top-notch attitude and good character.

“He has a wise, old head on young shoulders and is a good lad all round.

“I am sure there is a lot more to come from him at this level.”

Berra also tipped skipper Scott Brown to keep producing the goods for Scotland after another effective display against the Lithuanians.

He said: “Sometimes Scott doesn’t get noticed so much because he just gets on with his job but you can see, like Stuart, he has taken confidence from how Celtic are playing.

“He gets the ball in tight situations and spreads it about and he also acts as a shield in a defensive sense.

“He is fit, looks after himself and appears to have a few games left in him for Scotland.”