Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has admitted that Scotland manager Steve Clarke urged him to play with a smile on his face ahead of his recent heroics on the international stage.
After stepping off the bench to score twice in Scotland's 3-0 win over Cyprus in their opening European Championship qualifier on Saturday afternoon, the United academy graduate was rewarded with a start for Tuesday's clash with Spain and he repaid Clarke's faith in him by scoring another brace to help Scotland seal a famous 2-0 win. He scored either side of the half-time interval to help the Scots top their Euro 2024 qualifying group after their opening two fixtures.
McTominay, prior to the international break, had only ever previously scored once for his country, scoring the winner in a 3-2 win over Israel in a World Cup qualifier in October 2021. Therefore, to have scored four goals in just two games is an impressive achievement for a midfielder who is not usually associated with attacking contributions.
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The 26-year-old has found opportunities relatively hard to come by in recent months, often only earning chances from the substitutes bench at United. Nevertheless, a conversation with Clarke once he had linked-up with the Scotland squad was all that the midfielder needed.
"You have to set high expectations for yourself," said McTominay, as quoted by Football Scotland. "You can't just go into games hoping to do well. You must go in believing.
"I spoke to the manager and he said, 'I don't think you're playing with a smile on your face, and I want to see the smile come back out'.
"That was the first day I arrived and I thought, 'Do you know what, he is right'.
"I felt the smile did need to come back on my face, and I need to start enjoying football and playing like I love it."
McTominay, who has started just one Premier League match since the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City on October 2, has been linked with an exit from Old Trafford ahead of this forthcoming summer. His exploits against Spain, therefore, might have increased his number of admirers.
He continued: "That's sometimes hard when there is a lot going on in your life. But when he said that I went back to my room and thought he'd hit the nail on the head there. I got my head down and concentrated on my football, and that's all I need to do.
"It was a really tough game against Spain. We knew that they are obviously a really top side with quality players all over the pitch. We weren't naive to that going into the game.
"The manager said we would have to suffer without the ball, and that's a given when you're playing against a top team like Spain. They are going to have a lot of the ball and they control it very well. But I felt that we controlled the game even without the ball at times, which is pleasing for the manager as he implemented his game plan to perfection."
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