Robertson wants Scotland to be proud of performance

Scotland captain Andy Robertson feels Steve Clarke has already restored belief in the squad and now the players have to respond with a notable performance and victory.

Published 5th Sep 2019

Clarke took charge in May and oversaw a late win over Cyprus and 3-0 defeat against the world number one team, Belgium, inside the first three weeks of his reign.

But Robertson feels there was enough progress in that camp to enable them to hit the ground running ahead of the crucial run of fixtures in their European Championship qualifying group.

With Belgium boasting a 100 per cent record, Scotland are effectively competing with Russia for second place and are three points adrift after a shock opening defeat in Kazakhstan.

They now face the Russians home and away either side of the visit of Belgium, and Robertson knows they need to vindicate Clarke's faith in them at Hampden on Friday.

The Liverpool left-back said: "He has put belief back in the squad. He has come in and just got us all believing again and training and playing with a smile on our faces and getting us right for the games.

"We are as prepared as we can be for this game and it's all about us going into the game and showing that.

"We have not had a big performance in a big game for a long time and we need to do that because that's the only way you can qualify for these tournaments, by getting big results.

"We have had this week on top of the week in the summer under him so we are a bit more familiar with him and how his coaches work, so there was no settling-in period this time, it was straight to work on Monday and we've had a good week's training.

"But it's easy to train, it's harder to do on the pitch and that's what we need to do. Once we are out there nobody can look after us, it is all about doing it ourselves and we need to put in a performance that everyone will hopefully be proud of.''

Robertson explained how Clarke has had such an impact in a short space of time to work with his players.

"Everyone has bought into what he has done in training, that makes a difference,'' he said.

"And the way he conducts himself, he has been at the highest level.

"He's also done an amazing job at Kilmarnock. They were underdogs and he took them up to third.

"I suppose it's a bit similar to us, we will be underdogs going into these next three games and it's all about trying to get results when people don't expect it.

"The lads in the changing room and the staff, we don't expect it, but we think we've got a hell of a chance if we play the way we know we can play. Maybe others don't but it's about showing them we can do it.

"That's what the manager has made us believe. It's a strong squad but it's a squad that wants to fight for the manager and the staff behind him."