Make McGregor the focus, insists Gamboa

CRISTIAN GAMBOA believes Alex McLeish should build Scotland’s attacking set-up round his Celtic team-mate Callum McGregor.

Gamboa was on the winning side as Costa Rica subjected McLeish to a losing start to his second stint as national coach.

Scotland’s performance notably livened up with the double substitution that saw McGregor and Stuart Armstrong introduced in the 57th minute.

Full-back Gamboa believes he should be a regular starter for his country.

‘Callum is a fantastic player, who is doing really good things for Celtic and scoring really important goals for us,’ he said.

‘You have a good No10 on your hands, so you need to start to use it.

‘You see his quality. I see the quality of Callum and the Celtic players on the training pitch every day.

‘They are used to playing under big pressure and you can see the difference they make when they come on the pitch. They are good players.

‘When they came on, you saw different movement around the pitch and Scotland had the ball. They have different qualities, so it’s up to Scotland to use them.

‘I was just happy to be on the pitch with them.’

After making it to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in Brazil four years ago, Costa Rica are preparing for this summer’s instalment of the tournament in Russia.

In contrast, McLeish is searching for a winning formula that will qualify his team for the European Championships in 2020.

To that end, he next takes his squad to Budapest for another friendly against Hungary, a team who defeated Costa Rica last November.

‘For us, it’s about trying to be ready for the World Cup and the first game against Serbia,’ continued Gamboa.

‘Hungary will be a tough match for Scotland.

‘It was really cold when we played there. I’m used to the cold but most of the Costa Rican players aren’t used to minus five degrees.

‘I think, for you guys, it will be a good game and you can beat them. No pressure!’