Mackay makes vow World Cup will go smooth

SCOTTISH FA performance director Malky Mackay says every effort will be made to prevent a repetition of the problems which beset Scotland in the build-up to Euro 2017.

Speaking in the wake of the 2019 World Cup draw at the Seine Musicale on Saturday night, Mackay said the £1.1m qualification money would be ring-fenced for the team. The Scotland players enforced a media ban in the build-up to the Netherlands tournament last year, only lifting it when they agreed commercial terms with the SFA.

“FIFA have given us £700,000 for qualifying, and there’s another £400,00 in prep money coming too,” he said. “All of that will be spent on the team, on top of over £1m we’ve spent at the moment.

“There will be more money than has ever been spent on the women’s game. We’ll also look at the legacy of what we do beyond the World Cup, because we have to build on that going into the next Euros.”

Mackay was amazed that the draw once again paired Scotland with England in the opening Group D game. That will be played in Nice on June 9, and is a repeat of the opening Euro group game in Utrecht, which England won 6-0.

“We’re a completely different outfit now,” he pointed out.

“We had injuries going into the Euros to be fair, so let’s be clear about that.”

Thereafter Kerr’s side travel to Rennes to play Japan, runners-up to the USA in Canada three years ago and tournament winners in 2011. The final group game, at the Parc des Princes in Paris on June 19, is against fourth seeds Argentina.