VICTORY IN VIENNA NOW A MUST FOR SCOTLAND

STEVE CLARKE has reached the midpoint in Scotland’s bid to reach Qatar 2022 — but I believe the players must treat Tuesday’s match in Austria as if it is a final qualifier.

I feel we need to go to Vienna with the mindset that we have to win. If we don’t, then the odds are stacked against us making the finals.

Normally in a group format you need to pull off one big unexpected result. Having lost in Copenhagen in midweek, it looks like the Austria tie will need to be the one.

Three points won’t automatically see us qualify for the World Cup but would keep us firmly in the fight with home games against Israel and Denmark to come.

Last night, we saw off a Moldova team ranked below the Faroes. In many ways, it was the perfect fixture for Steve and for morale after what happened in Denmark.

International management can be so unpredictable — one bad result and confidence can be seriously dented, and there has been plenty of opinion over the last few days.

The bottom line is Steve will know we were capable of being so much better and we will certainly need to be to get the desired result against Austria, who are seeded higher and caused us plenty of problems in the first qualifier at Hampden back in March.

While this match will be difficult, it is far from an impossible task. But we have to be far more aggressive and confident.

As much as the Denmark game was a collective failure, I think we missed John McGinn as he isolated at home following his Covid diagnosis.

His personality is infectious and he plays the game bullishly. He offers balance to the midfield.

Sometimes you can have too many runners, at other times you have too many passers who play behind the ball.

When Billy Gilmour and Callum McGregor are in the team, Scotland need someone who is willing to break the lines.

McGinn doesn’t play safe when he is in that role and we could maybe have done with a bit more of that in Copenhagen.

His return is a huge boost for Steve and the Austrians won’t have forgotten his late overhead-kick goal from that opening game.