When I saw on my mobile the game was off I
just assumed it was fake news
Scott McKenna checked the message on his phone and thought it was from a FAKE account.
Sitting on the bus, leaving Hampden late on Friday night, Steve Clarke’s squad were still mulling over the 1-1 draw with Israel.
It had been surreal enough playing a dress rehearsal of our Euro 2020 play-off in a deserted national stadium.
But news that our next game against Czech Republic on Monday could be called off? McKenna thought it was a wind-up.
Clarke’s side were warned not to lose focus. Until UEFA confirmed any potential postponement, it was business as usual.
Just as wel l , g iven that European football’s governing body stated yesterday that the Nations League match will go ahead as planned in Olomouc.
It might well be the Czechs’ second-string with some of their top players missing due to Covid-19. Any fears Scotland’s players might have in the strange circumstances would be justified.
But Aberdeen centre-back McKenna says it’s NOT on their minds.
He’s convinced they’ll be kept safe by SFA medical staff and insists the only thing they’ll be bringing back with them are three points.
McKenna said: “When we were on the bus back from the Israel game one of the lads put a message in the group chat, saying the Czech game was in doubt.
“At first I thought it was from a fake account. Then I asked staff members about it. We were told that until we heard anything from UEFA the game would still be on – and we had to prepare as normal.
“That’s exactly what we’ve done. The boys who played were in recovery on Saturday morning and the rest were training. Nothing has changed for us. We’ve already done some work on Czech Republic and we’ll do more analysis over the weekend. Even if they’re missing players, they are still a good team but we will go over there backing ourselves.
“The doctors and medical staff are brilliant so all the players feel safe.
“We have to trust in the processes they have in place. UEFA are strict at the best of times.
“If they’re happy for the game to go ahead then I am too – and I’m sure my team-mates feel the same.”
McKenna was disappointed by the draw against the Israelis, especially after Scotland had led through Ryan Christie’s penalty. It was their first international game in 10 months, in a new 3- 4-2-1 system devised by Clarke with the intention of getting his best players on the pitch.
McKenna wasn’t happy with every aspect of the performance, particularly Eran Zahavi’s equaliser but he’s convinced that with every game that passes, Clarke’s team are improving. He said: “We had three days to work on it. We did a lot of shape work and analysis so we knew what we were doing.
“But the lack of time on the pitch means it can be difficult working on a new shape. The more we meet up, the more it will start to come to fruition.
“We were pretty solid defensively. We could have been five or 10 yards higher up to give us the chance of turning the ball over and breaking on Israel. But when you have a goal and something to hang on to, sitting back can happen naturally. “With a lead and the centre-halves we had on the pitch, we shouldn’t have conceded that type of goal. It’s frustrating because we didn’t give them too many chances but we lost a sloppy goal.
“We can make the shape work. Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney beside me are comfortable on the ball. They can get us up the pitch although we didn’t do it enough on Friday night.
“But when you have players like Callum McGregor and Ryan Jack in front of us – we can get it working. We’re trying to build momentum, get more time in that shape and really get used to each other.
“It’s better that we have another game coming up as a draw was a disappointing result. A clean sheet would have won us the game.”
McKenna is probably his own harshest critic.
But going up against the l i k e s of Za hav i and Hoffenheim striker Moanes
Dabour is no easy task.
The Scotland centre-back accepts that they’ll need to be on their guard when the duo visit Glasgow again for the Euro play- off semi-final in October.
McKenna said: “Scoring that goal potentially gives them a bit of impetus going into next month.
“But we’ve had another look at them and I’m sure next time we’ll be ready to win. Israel’s strikers are good players but I thought we dealt with them quite well and limited their chances.
“Listen, we wanted to win but they’re a good side. The fans and people on social media are entitled to their opinion – but we’re as disappointed as anyone that we didn’t win.”