The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘It wasn’t good enough’, defender admits
Stephen O’Donnell knows if his Scotland career is going to be a long one, being partly responsible for cheap goals conceded will have to stop, writes Eric Nicolson..
The Kilmarnock full-back was caught out of position for Portugal’s opener just before half-time on Sunday and he was even more culpable for the visitors’ second.
As he bluntly admitted: “It wasn’t good enough.
“Personally, I was really disappointed after the Israel game and I was also disappointed at being involved in a couple of the goals lost against Portugal.
“The second goal, especially. The first goal was a bit unfortunate, but I dropped early at the second. There was a bit of an overload at the back post.
“I’ve seen their player make a run and I’ve tried to get in there, but the delivery has been perfect and I got punished.
“That was my fault. We were told to drop on the last step and I hold my hands up for that one.
“Reflection is great, but it wasn’t good enough at the time.
“I need to make sure I’m not involved in goals. I’m a defender first and foremost.”
He added: “I thought I did well at times and I’m not afraid to get on to the ball, but it’s not for me to say if I’m going to fill that spot.
“I’ve enjoyed my six games that I’ve played and, hopefully, there is more.
“But if there is more, I can’t be involved in any more goals and that is something I’m certainly going to work on.
“That’s the small margins which make you a top player and an international player and that’s a learning curve for myself and the team as a collective.
“There were some things I did well. Maybe there were times when I could have been more positive, tried to play forward and help create.
“But I’m trying to give the ball to players who have more in their game going forward and then make the runs off them to try and help them out.
“We faced a good side and there are things I need to brush up on.”
Even a win against Portugal would not have erased the pain of defeat in Haifa. Only topping their Nations League group next month will do that.
“There was a lot more collective disappointment after Israel,” O’Donnell said.
“At the end of the day, you compare the games. The Nations League is the important part.
“The friendlies are also important, but the Israel game was massively disappointing afterwards.
“After Portugal, you look at parts of the game. Obviously, we changed to the four at the back which was good.
“It was a disappointing result again, but we came away from it learning a bit more.”