Austria boss plays down talk of crisis ahead of Scotland clash
Franco Foda is under-pressure following their 5-2 defeat to Israel
Under-pressure Austria manager Franco Foda dismissed suggestions his team are in crisis ahead of Tuesday's showdown with Scotland.
Austria's bid to qualify for the World Cup suffered a setback when they lost 5-2 in Israel on Saturday, and the backlash from the local media has been fierce, with claims that the players are not behind the boss.
But Fonda said: "That's just media. I can't talk about that because I don't know. From my side I have a really good relationship with the team and I think you guys saw that in the Euros.''
Austria reached the last 16 of Euro 2020 before losing narrowly to eventual winners Italy, but a little over two months later the manager is being heavily criticised.
Foda said: "That's what the business is. In the sports world, especially football, people change their mood pretty quickly. That's just how it is.
"You have to accept that and respect it. What's important for me is that sometimes the media is not saying correct things. Researchers aren't always doing their jobs correctly.''
Foda believes his side lost heavily in Israel simply because they made too many errors at both ends of the pitch. He is confident there will be a positive response against Steve Clarke's side.
Foda said: "That's football. You make mistakes. If there were no mistakes there wouldn't be any goals.
"We just made too many easy mistakes which you can't make at that level of football. We lost the ball too easily and we just have to stop that.
"We'd a long journey back on Sunday. We did a little training and then had a little talk about the details which we didn't do well.
"We already talked about the Scotland game as we don't have that much time. So we've talked about their strengths and weaknesses and have told the team what this game is about.
"It's like a final for us and we have to win it. But we're definitely capable of doing that.
"Scotland play a similar system to Israel - three at the back, five in midfield and two attackers. But it's a little different as they are stronger and they play many long balls.
"They play a lot with their wingers and they are dangerous in those situations. They are a very strong team so it's going to be important that we win our tackles.
"We have to win this game. I trust the team and we'll do everything we can to win.''