After 30 years of failure, inside Tony Docherty's plan to revive Scotland's under-21s

Tony Docherty is looking to give the Scotland under-21 side an identity, and shake off the apathy that has surrounded a team who has underachieved for 30 years. (Image: Andrew Milligan)

As Nariman Akhundzade’s trundler trickled past the desperate, outstretched arm of Liam McFarlane and nestled into the bottom corner of the Scotland net, the trip to Rugby Park in desperate search of hope started to look a forlorn one.

What was I thinking? This was the Scotland under-21s, for crying out loud. Where hope – along with numerous seemingly promising international careers over the years - goes to die. The team that haven’t qualified for a major tournament since 1996, eight years before the oldest member of the current squad was even born.