WE GAVE CLASSY ENGLAND TOO MUCH RESPECT AT THE RIVERSIDE, ADMITS SOUTTAR
ONE month after outplaying an elite European nation in the Dutch, handing too much respect to a classy English side was the sore point of a comprehensive defeat for John Souttar.
Streetwise and confidence were two descriptions the Hearts defender awarded to a new-look Scotland Under-21 team following an opening night 2-0 win over Holland in Euro 2019 qualifying.
From the off against an English outfit featuring Premier League quality and five stars of last year’s Under-20s World Cup win, Scotland were forced back into their shell at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.
Little wonder that Scot Gemmill urged his players to swiftly put Friday night’s 3-1 loss behind them before jetting out to Latvia.
A wonder goal from Josh Onomah, a Tammy Abraham penalty spawned from a Souttar foul then Dom Solanke’s quick reply to a Chris Cadden strike saw England ease to the top of the group.
‘We probably sat back too much in the first half, really didn’t do ourselves justice at all and gave England too much respect,’ complained Souttar.
‘Then, in the second half, we were better but should have done more to stop their goals.
‘But England away, on a big pitch, will be hard for everyone perform and come away with something because they have top players and a great forward line.
‘We need to go to Latvia now and get a positive result and, if we do that, we’ll be sitting on six points after our first three games, including England away. That will be a positive position we can be happy about.
‘So we’ve just have to put it down as an off day. It’s done now.’
After Tuesday’s away tie in Latvia, Scotland face a home double-header in November against Latvia and Ukraine.