Scot Gemmill: Scotland u21s will have their time
Scotland Under-21 boss Scot Gemmill insists his side's time will come - despite seeing them rack up a calendar year without a goal.
Scotland Under-21 boss Scot Gemmill insists his side's time will come - despite seeing them rack up a calendar year without a goal.
Gemmill's youngsters were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Estonia in a friendly clash in Paisley.
It is the sixth game running that they have failed to find the net, with their goal drought now stretching to 552 minutes.
Jason Cummings was the last man to strike with his goal against Northern Ireland back on March 29 last year.
Like a raft of other players who featured during that miserable run, the Hibs striker is now too old to be considered for selection.
But Gemmill reckons it is unfair to lay the blame at the feet of the new players who have been promoted in their place.
He said: "If you look at the players we have, there is definitely goals in the team.
"The boys are scoring at Championship level for the first team. Anyone who saw the game will have seen how close we were to scoring.
"But when we talk about six games with no goals, that's slightly unfair in my opinion because that's not this team. You're talking about the Scotland Under-21 age group, but that is the team who played last year.
"We're all starting afresh and looking forward. We're concentrating on the future and this new age group.''
Gemmill was hoping to use the clash at the Paisley 2021 Stadium to boost confidence before the Scots kick-off their European Championship qualifying campaign against Holland in September.
As well as the Dutch, they face a tough task reaching the 2019 finals in Italy after also being drawn alongside England, Ukraine, Latvia and Andorra.
But the head coach saw enough in his side's display to leave him feeling optimistic.
"I thought it was a positive performance,'' he said. "I challenged the boys to play with a higher intensity, with a real commitment to go and win a match and I think that was evident in the performance.
"Of course we're disappointed that we didn't get the win but in terms of the boys starting to gel together, I think we can really look forward to some big games later in the year.
"If they play with that intensity, with that speed, with that determination then I think there is a lot of positivity to take forward.''