James McFadden insists he was not even surprised that Scotland managed to beat Spain.
Steve Clarke’s side continued their flawless start to Euro 2024 qualifying group A with a stunning 2-0 win over the tenth-ranked country.
Despite missing out on the World Cup at the end of last year following a painful play-off defeat to Ukraine, former Tartan Army favourite McFadden insists he was always confident that the national team were heading in the right direction.
McFadden, who scored an iconic winner against France in 2007, said: “I’m not surprised Scotland have got this result because of the way Steve Clarke has built this squad.
“Slowly but surely he has built the belief.
“There was huge disappointment in the summer when we lost the play-off to Ukraine but we knew this group would come back because they have that resilience. A fantastic performance.
“I look at the summer and it was a huge disappointment but I saw it for what it was, I thought it was a blip.
“And Scotland have bounced back from that and used it.
"To get success sometimes you have to fail, you don’t want to be missing out on the World Cup but it’s about how you react to that and I was confident in Steve Clarke and this group of players that they would be desperate to get back and this would not be the end of the journey from them.”
Scotland now lead Spain at the Group A summit by three points ahead of June’s double header against Norway and Georgia.
And former Motherwell and Everton playmaker McFadden reckons victories in those games will all but guarantee Scotland one of two group qualifying berths for Germany.
He added: “You look at the games coming up in June against Norway and Georgia and I don’t think it’s impossible, if you can beat Spain then surely you can beat Norway and Georgia.
“If you go and win your two games there, it’s insurmountable for those two teams if Scotland go and win them.”
