Scott positively on top of any Scotland woes
Scott McTominay credits his mental strength with helping him cope with the trauma of Scotland’s struggles.
The Manchester United midfielder missed the country’s 4-0 humbling in Moscow last Thursday night through suspension, but will return for the visit of San Marino to Hampden Park tonight.
“I sat and watched it on the television with my family and it was difficult,” he said.
“But football is not all sunshine and rainbows, when you’re going through a bad period you have to accept it and look forward.
“There is pressure but that is the case whatever level you’re playing in and is down to how you handle that. You have to deal with it in a positive way and react in a way that’s positive.
“You can’t take too much notice of what’s being said elsewhere. We have to concentrate on the pitch and that’s what I’m thinking about.”
It is an approach that the 22-year-old, praised for his fortitude by Manchester United legend Gary Neville, says has its roots in his early Old Trafford career.
“No one has drilled it into me. It has always been a way of life,” he said.
“When I was 18 I didn’t play too many games. I was always injured with groin pains and so on.
“I wasn’t even down then, though. I was always positive mentally, from my family always pushing me to keep going, keep going.
“My mum, dad, sister, her fiancé and some family from Scotland as well will all be there at Hampden for this game. Wherever I go they go, which is always nice.
“You want to do well in front of your family because the sacrifices they have given me over the past 15 years have been incredible – I would not be in this chair now if it wasn’t for my family.
“So I have had the experience of real lows of football and in the future you can always look back to that moment and think it was bad.
“But now I am playing for Man United and Scotland, which is terrific, so you have to be grateful for the opportunities you have been given as well.
“I feel like that mental strength comes naturally as well from the experiences I have had and I can pass it on to teammates at club level and hopefully at international as well.”
And, despite the fact the country goes into tonight’s match having lost four of their five games under Steve Clarke, McTominay remains confident of the chances of qualifying for Euro 2020 through the Nations League play-offs.
“I look around the squad and I can see others in squad who are mentally strong, too,” he said.
“If they did not have that quality they would not be doing so well at their clubs.
“This is the international stage and we have to have more of that.”