Ikechi Anya confident Scotland will get it right against Slovenia
Ikechi Anya heard the boos from the Tartan Army following the 1-1 draw with Canada at Easter Road but is confident Scotland will get it right when it matters against Slovenia.
Ikechi Anya heard the boos from the Tartan Army following the 1-1 draw with Canada at Easter Road but is confident Scotland will get it right when it matters against Slovenia.
In what was a warm-up for the make or break World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park on Sunday, the Scots were stunned when Falkirk midfielder Fraser Aird fired the visitors into a shock lead in the 10th minute following a mix-up in the home defence.
Attacker Steven Naismith levelled in the 34th minute when he turned a wayward shot by debutant Tom Cairney into the net but the visitors, ranked 117th in the world, held out and the small crowd let their feelings be known at the end.
Anya, who was named man of the match on his 25th appearance, said: "You're a professional athlete and need to be thick skinned.
"If that's going to affect you then maybe this isn't the right sport for you.
"Each player I've ever played with at club or international level has always given their best and sometimes it's not good enough and other times it's more than good enough.
"We'll go again and get into training and we'll try our best and come Sunday we'll be full of confidence and we will put in a good performance.
"Everyone can react as they want to react. The game was put on for a purpose and it served that purpose.
"Let's speak after the game on Sunday because that's the most important.
"From a personal point of view it was good to get 90 minutes in and a few other guys got 90 minutes or 65 minutes. We'll recover and get back into training and get ready for the game.
"If people don't think we looked good then that's their opinion but I felt we did well in certain parts of the game and hopefully we can take them into Sunday and work on the parts we weren't so good at. "