The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
McLeish attention turns to ‘cup finals’
McLeish continued: “Some came in during the summer and it’s not easy to get guys to be top internationals within three or four caps.
“I felt we played well. The structure was compact. We pressed when we had the chance to press.
“We passed the ball well in between the Portuguese at times and had one or two sniffs around the goal.
“There was a lot for me to take out of the game after the horrible (Israel) result. It’s a wee bit of a lift.”
McLeish’s record of six defeats in eight games has put his own job security in the spotlight.
“Every time you lose a game you know there’s going to be criticism but you have to take it and bounce back up,” he said.
“There are other examples of managers being under the cosh in recent times, like Michael O’Neill, who persevered and came through it.
“Next month we’ll see. “We’ll do everything we can to qualify and if we do we’ll be talking in a different vein next month.
“I’ll treat the next two games as cup finals. We want to win the two of them.”
Scotland looked more comfortable in a 4-2-3-1 formation than they have with five at the back in previous matches.
McLeish said: “I know every system that there is to know.
“We want to adapt. We want to be able to adapt to different formations.
“It’s about getting the right balance.
“I’m not making any decisions about the Albania game at this moment. We’ll have long and hard chats about that.
“We’ll try to get a team and formation on the pitch that can beat the opposition.”
Leigh Griffiths made headlines with his withdrawal before the Israel match and on that, McLeish reflected: “I had a chat with Leigh last week. He said that physically he had to get better. That’s his choice and I admire him for that.
“He wants to get to a level of fitness that he can blow Brendan (Rodgers) away and blow the nation away.
“I’d love to see anybody back in the squad who is scoring lots of goals and looking a real threat.”
Scotland captain Andy Robertson is already looking ahead to next month’s Nations League fixture in Albania.
Scotland must win the group to guarantee a play-off spot for Euro 2020, and the left-back said: “We have to win in Albania. It’s now or never.
“The two games are big and hopefully we will be spot on when we meet up.
“We are in a four-game group and we have two games left. They are must win.
“We only have three points and that’s not enough. It’s a four-game group and that’s maybe the slight downfall of the Nations League – there is no margin for error.”
Portugal manager Fernando Santos said: “The first 25 minutes were rather difficult.
“The Scottish game is a very strong and physical one.
“We didn’t have the ball and couldn’t control it.
“After the first goal we controlled the game, realised what we can do and took advantage of the Scottish weaknesses.”