JAMES MCFADDEN has urged Scotland to go and secure automatic qualification for Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke's side last night secured a play-off spot for the next European Championships, which will be held in Germany.
The Scots held Ukraine to a 0-0 stalemate in Poland to bag top spot in their Nations League group.
This earned them promotion to section A of the UEFA competition, as well as the further perks of the fall-back of a play-off for the next Euros and pot 2 status for the qualification draw.
And while it's a bonus to have a back-up plan for the next major tournament qualifying campaign, Scotland hero McFadden wants to see the country go all out to make it out of the group automatically.
He said: “With this team, we have to be mindful that we fell short in qualifying for the World Cup via the play-off.
“However, overall, with the way we finished the last qualification campaign and winning the last six games, the way we’ve finished this qualification campaign, we have to be confident.
“Alright, we have got the play-off there. But hopefully we don’t need to use it. Have the confidence that we don’t need to fall back on it.
“Let’s go and qualify outright. It is there, you’re right, but I think the strides this team have made in the last year-and-a-half have been incredible.”
Kenny Miller was a pundit alongside McFadden. And he was of the same mindset, insisting momentum is the key word as far as Scotland are concerned.
He added: “It’s about momentum. What we don’t want to do is stumble into that play-off, not in great form.
“We need to use what’s been ingrained here from topping this group. Let’s go and qualify if we can through the traditional route and not rely on the play-off."
