Success with Scotland as important as club glory, says Andy Robertson
It is to Andy Robertson’s credit that he firmly rejects any suggestion of Champions League glory with Liverpool diminishing his appetite for featuring in a Scotland shirt in June. Robertson, the country’s captain, was applauded into dinner by teammates and staff after landing in Glasgow following Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham. Next is the international double header against Cyprus and Belgium.
“My full focus was on joining up with the Scotland squad and I wanted to get up as quickly as I could,” said Robertson. “It’s been an incredible week but it’s all about trying to top it off now. The motivation is the same as all the lads at Liverpool – we want to play as many games [as possible] and playing for your country is still the biggest honour. It’s irrelevant what we’ve won and what we’ve done. It’s still a huge honour for me to lead the team out and walk out and play these important games.
“My full focus was always coming up here. Whether I was struggling or not I was always going to come up here and at least get assessed and luckily I’m fit and healthy and there’s no reason I can’t play these games.”
If anything Robertson’s latest achievement at Liverpool appears to have intensified his desire to sample success with his country. Scotland’s men’s wait to reach a major tournament stretches back to 1998. “I want more of those feelings that I had on Saturday,” Robertson said. “I want that success at club level, more of it with Liverpool. It is not just we have won the big cup and let’s all pack it in now. I want to win more trophies. I want to win more trophies for Liverpool and bring success to Scotland. To do that we need to go again, we’ve got a new start now and we need to qualify for the Euros because that would be as special, I feel.
“It does make me more determined. Having those happy feelings, those success feelings, I want to have that a lot more and I am sure all the lads want to experience it.”
The visit of Cyprus to Hampden Park on Saturday marks Steve Clarke’s first game as Scotland’s manager. Robertson was elevated to captain under Clarke’s immediate predecessor, Alex McLeish, but on Friday the full-back admitted he was well aware of negativity attached to that regime.
“I’ve only been here a couple of days but it does feel different,” Robertson said. “It feels more positive. That comes from the manager and the staff and they have been different class since they came in.
“But it’s now time for us to try and show it. That’s what the manager wants too. It’s all very well doing it behind the scenes but Saturday and Tuesday are about trying to show it on the pitch. We know how tough those two games are going to be. Although it has only been a short space of time, we feel we have made progress over this week. It will only get better.”
An early indicator of Clarke’s influence is shown by the fact not a single player has withdrawn. “The pleasing thing for me was, when I got the players together, I didn’t feel any negativity,” said the former Kilmarnock manager.