McLeish calls for courage
ALEX McLEISH has urged his Scotland players to approach tonight’s Nations League clash in Israel with courage and confidence. Encouraging an inexperienced squad to show they ‘have got a pair’, McLeish wants the younger members of his side to regard playing for the national team as an enjoyable experience. As a player, he was part of the Scotland team who won in Israel en route to the 1982 World Cup Finals. Now viewing the Nations League as representing a real opportunity for the national team to end their 20-year absence from major tournaments, the Scotland boss will ask his players to replicate their performance from the opening 2-0 win over Albania. ‘It’s a big chance,’ said McLeish. ‘The other teams will be thinking they’ve got a great chance as well because we’re bracketed at the same kind of level. ‘I watched Israel’s friendly against Northern Ireland. They did lose heavily, but they actually played some good stuff. ‘Now we are going to Israel, their territory, and we have to show we have got a pair. There’s always been a mental
thing when you go away from home. I can remember the Aberdeen team we had, growing up and finally winning at Celtic Park, finally winning at Ibrox. ‘There was a very long time when we just couldn’t win there. A lot of it was down to mentality. ‘We (Scotland) had a good result in the first game. But we don’t go into this game thinking it is going to be easy. ‘We have to give the opposition respect — and the way we do that is by being at our top level performance-wise.’ The loss of Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths and Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser came as a setback before the Scots left Edinburgh yesterday morning. But experienced striker Steven Naismith, who got the Scots off to a flying start against Albania, believes the younger players in the squad are fearless and can come through for McLeish. ‘There is no fear and I had that when I first came into the Kilmarnock first team and then moved to Rangers,’ he said. ‘You have not experienced the past so you don’t understand some of the things that could go wrong. They are never on your mind. ‘It’s all good, like: “This is amazing. I’m in the Scotland squad and I’m just going to go out and play!” It was the same for me when I was starting out. ‘It’s refreshing that we’ve got that, especially considering the way the manager wants us to play. ‘You need to be brave. You need to want to take the ball. ‘One of the biggest things I noticed last time was that everyone is keen and hungry. They want the ball and are keen to make an impression.’ Endorsing Naismith’s views about the younger players, McLeish added: ‘I do think there’s tremendous confidence within the squad. ‘One or two haven’t been playing recently but, by and large, there is a lot of good form out there and in this squad. ‘If Naisy feels that way about them then that’s great to hear because he’s right in amongst them. ‘Guys like him and the older players in the squad can really encourage the younger ones to go and enjoy themselves. ‘We want them to enjoy their football career. We don’t want them to be going away from home and thinking that the world is on their shoulders. ‘They have to go and express themselves and bring their individuality to the tactical side and the physical side. They have to bring their individual skills.’