Robbo says Euros pain can fuel squad’s bid to make World Cup

National captain Andy Robertson has urged Scotland to use their Euro 2020 pain to drive the bid for World Cup qualification.

As Scotland get ready to face Group F leaders Denmark away tonight, Robertson revealed failing to progress beyond the Euro group stages continues to eat away at him.

Wounds from that Euro exit, losing 3-1 to Croatia, are still raw for the leftback – and he will use that disappointment to drive the bid to reach the World Cup finals in Qatar next year.

Having tasted the Euros, the full-back is hungry for the halcyon days of the 1970s to 1990s when Scotland regularly qualified for major tournaments.

Ahead of a World Cup triple header that also takes in Moldova at Hampden on Saturday and Austria away on Tuesday, Robertson insists he is up for the “fight” to lead Scotland to the World Cup.

Robertson said: “It (Euro 2020) needs to play on my mind and the minds of all the players and coaches to drive us forward.

“We were 90 minutes away from making history by becoming the first team to qualify out of the group – but we didn’t manage that.

“The day after it was all quite raw and the feelings we all had were very similar.

“Reflecting on that game, credit has to go to Croatia – that was the best team we played in the group. Obviously England have quality, but we really did perform against them.

“We gave it everything we had and I look back on it with pride, being able to represent the country at a major tournament. But it’s in the past now and we’re looking forward.

“It’s about being involved in the next tournament and trying to be involved in that.”

Scotland ended more than a two-decade wait by qualifying for the Euros, with the previous participation at a major final the 1998 World Cup.

Robertson, a Champions League, Club World Cup and Premier League winner with Liverpool, wants the Euros to be the first of many tournaments for this squad.

He said: “The majority of this squad has now experienced playing at a major tournament.

“The feeling around it, the three or four-week build-up, the way the whole country got behind us, everything we felt in that short space of time – we want more of that.

“We don’t just want to experience it once. We want it more and more and it’s up to us to do that. It’s up to us to compete in these qualifying campaigns and qualify with whatever means necessary. Look, it’s always a tough task, but we’re up for the fight and giving it a right good go and hopefully we can get to more tournaments.

“We’ve obviously been to the Euros, we’d love to get to a World Cup, we’d love to get to more Euros.

“We don’t want it to be every 20 years to get to a tournament. We want to make it a bit more regular.

“We’re the ones in control of that and it’s up to us on the pitch to see if that can happen or not.”

Robertson’s participation in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers looked in serious doubt when he limped off at the end of the first half against Athletic Bilbao in Liverpool’s penultimate pre-season friendly.

The defender admitted he feared the worst. However, scans showed the ligament damage in Robertson’s ankle wasn’t extensive enough to require surgery.