Callum McGregor reckons Scotland will have new puzzles to solve in Krakow. But Steve Clarke’s midfield star is backing the squad to keep finding the correct answers to the batch of massive questions they are currently being asked.
Clarke ’s high-flyers jet out to Poland this afternoon with their mission crystal clear and the potential rewards tangible. Back-to-back wins over Ukraine and Republic of Ireland will have the troops bouncing on to the team flight.
In the past five days, McGregor and his team-mates have been posed problems. Against Ukraine, they needed to stay patient in a continental-style contest. Against Ireland, they did the same but also with additional fight and bite after Stephen Kenny’s team turned into more of a domestic scrap. Now it’s Ukraine again on foreign soil and McGregor knows there will be another set of challenges.
A fresh batch of teasers to solve as the Ukrainians attempt to come up with a new plan to overturn their 3-0 hammering at Hampden. But the Celtic captain has full belief in the boys to plot their way through and gain the necessary result to finish top of their Nations League group.
McGregor is among the senior figures intending to lead the way and said: “There’s always an element when you go away from home that the game will be different. But we just have to stay calm, find our way in the game early. And if they try something different, we have to try and figure that out early doors.
“We will need to get to grips with the game because it will be a different fixture to the one here last week. We just need to get to grips with it and find a solution. We understand the match is away and they will have some fans in the stadium but we have to go to Poland and continue with the intent we’ve had in the last two games.
“We have to be aggressive, keep calm heads and use all the experience we have. There are a lot of experienced boys in the squad and we have to galvanise the group.
“We know what we need to do to win the group and we will be going there to win the game. We need to be aggressive and do all the good things we have done so far in this camp. It’s about making sure we go in there with a positive mindset.”
Positivity is one key aspect but the other is maturity. The calmness and refusal to panic in moments of stress has been a key element and noteworthy element of Scotland’s last 180 minutes.
In both of the Hampden matches, there have been periods when victory has looked as though it may move out of reach. On both occasions Clarke’s team have stayed true to themselves, refused to be worried out of their plans and stayed controlled to earn the 3-0 and 2-1 wins which have them soaring ahead of Krakow.
McGregor feels the growing maturity within the camp as he explained the background to the interval reset that sank the Irish. He said: “We spoke about things at half-time as we never quite got going in the first half.
“But we knew if we stuck to the principles of the game and what we tried to do in the match, we knew not to come away from our plan because it was 1-0. We knew if we kept doing what we were told to do that would get us back into the game and that’s what happened. That comes with experience and being in these types of situations before.
“When you are losing, you are desperate to get back into the game and you maybe start doing stuff that isn’t in the plan. But you have a plan for a reason and if you stay calm and you see the picture clearly, you know where you can hurt them.
“It’s about using that experience, staying calm in the situation and then trying to execute the plan.
“We believe in what the manager is telling us. You have to trust yourself to get back into the game by doing the right things and not becoming emotional as it is 1-0 at half-time. You might try something different but we knew if we stuck to the principles that we would get back into it.”
Scotland will keep those principles tomorrow and McGregor has knowledge of what he may face. Twelve days ago, he faced Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw with a Ukrainian team using Poland as a home base.
Crowd intensity from home fans was missing on that Champions League occasion but McGregor’s not sure if it will be the same tomorrow.
He said: “Just going from our experience last week in Poland, then maybe (a lack of noise). But we have to expect that the crowd will be behind them and they will be feeling good about themselves because they’re at home. We have to try to take that element of surprise out of our game and focus.”
After two gruelling affairs and more injury problems, Clarke will have to assess his team. McGregor, though, looks a certain starter. He laughed when it was put to him that it’d be unusual not to play a third game in a week given the durability he’s shown over the last five years.
He said: “That would be a shock to the system! I play 70 matches a season!”
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