Mark McGhee wants the Tartan Army to get behind Scotland against Slovenia

Scotland assistant coach Mark McGhee has urged fans to match the positivity within the camp ahead of the crucial encounter with Slovenia - and feel free to boo them if it is misplaced.

Hampden Park is on course to be little over half-full for Sunday's World Cup qualifier as the Scots look to cut a four-point deficit on the team sitting in second in Group F.

There was no morale boost following consecutive 3-0 qualifying defeats when Scotland drew 1-1 with Canada on Wednesday and McGhee admitted he would be worried if the same team were in line to face Srecko Katanec's side.

But the 59-year-old brushed off the Easter Road contest as an irrelevance, promising an injection of form and confidence from the competitive line-up.

Hibernian's ground looked less than half full, despite an official attendance of 9,150 on a freezing night in Leith, but McGhee wants the Tartan Army to give Gordon Strachan's Scotland another chance.

The former Motherwell manager said: "We understand totally the supporters' little bit of malaise about it: we have had some disappointing results and what is there to cheer?

"But a positive result on Sunday night can win them back that little bit and then of course it is the England game, which everyone wants a part of, and suddenly it's a different world.

"I think given the weather and the conditions last night, we were quite pleased with the crowd to be absolutely honest. I thought it would be less than that.

"I'm not sure what's expected at Hampden but I would implore the supporters to at worst come along and, if we are rubbish, boo us.

"But come along because you never know, we might be decent and we might have something to cheer about.

"Certainly I can only say to them that I know there's a group of players going into this game hugely determined.

"They are positive regardless of previous results because they are players that are playing well and in good situations within their clubs. We expect to see a positive reaction that the supporters could enjoy."

Scotland fell behind early on against Canada to Falkirk midfielder Fraser Aird's strike and the likes of Chris Martin, Oliver Burke, Lee Wallace and Robert Snodgrass struggled to get to grips with the game in sticky underfoot conditions.

McGhee said: "The team will change. If we were sitting here saying the team that we had last night is the same team that's going to play on Sunday night, and therefore the manager has to come up with some story to convince them that they are going to do better on Sunday night than they did last night, then I tell you what, I would be worried.

"But that is not the case. It's a totally different thing Sunday night and we feel pretty positive about it.

"Last night didn't really bear a lot of relation to Sunday night. It was an exercise in something else: one or two people getting games; Tom (Cairney) getting a start and introducing him to people.

"What happened last night was totally irrelevant to Sunday night."

Leigh Griffiths, who has not started a game in 2017, came off the bench but the rest of the Celtic contingent - Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest - were rested. That will not be the case on Sunday.

"There will be changes," McGhee said. "Some of the Celtic lads will come in. They come in with a great frame of mind, they are about to win the title again, so they are all buzzing.

"So we hope the rest of us that are selected can benefit from the energy, the enthusiasm and the positivity that surrounds that group. So that will overcome any negativity that might have come from the other night.

"Players that have been playing regularly in the Scotland team - Matt Ritchie, James Morrison, Scott Brown, James Forrest has played - these boys are now all available. So I'd imagine the manager will consider seriously including those boys. Whether it's them all, I don't know.

"Those players are playing in form, they are good players.

"We don't suffer when we've done well, thinking that it counts in the next game. We know we have to take one game at a time, and it's the same with a bad result. We have a bad result, we move on and we are ready for the next game, and that's the way it is.

"The manager will pick players that are in a positive frame of mind. We will play in the present and not worry about what's happened in the past or what the consequences are for that in the future."

Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton has been called up to the squad after David Marshall pulled out. The latter lost his place to Gordon ahead of the defeat by England and has been on the bench for Hull in recent months.

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