Rangers striker Bojan Miovski has revealed North Macedonia are under exactly the same pressure as Scotland to end a goalscoring drought and admitted that netting against the country he has made his home will be a sweet moment for him.
Andy Robertson and his team mates have now gone four games without finding the target – their poorest run of form in attack since way back in 1971.
If the national team fail to score in the first 22 minutes of their Nations League encounter in Skopje tomorrow evening it will be their worst spell up front in their entire 154 year history.
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But Miovski admitted that his country, whose 2-0 loss to Slovenia in a Group B1 match in Ljubljana on Tuesday night extended their winless streak to 10 games, are also struggling in the vital department.
Macedonia have not scored since the 27-year-old netted in a 7-1 defeat to Wales in a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff back in November.
The former Aberdeen forward has been used sparingly at Ibrox this season – but he notched a last-minute winner in a 1-0 triumph over St Mirren in a William Hill Premiership match in Govan last month and is keen to do so again in the Todor Proeski Arena.
“Scotland is a great national team,” he said. “I know almost all of their players. They played at the World Cup and in some ways they didn’t play as I expected. I expected that they would go further and get greater results. But they have a great reputation.
“But they are now in a moment where they have changed their coach and tried to bring in something new. They had an early red card against Switzerland so we could not see what they were trying to do. But we have tried to analyse everything and prepare for the game.
“Yes, in the moment Scotland are struggling to score. I saw that they need to score in 22 minutes or they will break some bad record. Yeah, they are under pressure, we are under pressure. But we will look after ourselves and focus on our national team.
“They also haven’t scored a goal so far in this competition, just like us. For us, we need a collective effort to win this game and prove our togetherness on the pitch.
“I have a really nice feeling about Scotland. It is my fifth year there. I have played the best years of my career there and I have three years left on my contract there. I have only positives to say about their national team and of course if I score against them it will be nice.”
Slovenia manager Goce Sedloski has appealed to North Macedonia supporters to get behind his side and help them to return to winning ways against Scotland by turning out in numbers in Skopje tomorrow night.
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“The atmosphere in the squad is good now,” he said. “The last two defeats are behind us. But I want to invite all the supporters to come and support us in this game. The more spectators we have, the better it will be for the national team.
“In Scotland, their stadiums are always full. So that’s why I invite all the supporters to be with us when it’s difficult. But I am not looking for excuses. We are working towards improvement. I want to make Macedonia happy and the boys do too.
“We are prepared to show our character on the pitch. The result against Slovenia was not good and did not make me happy. But we can improve. I want our players to enjoy playing for the national team and to do their best in every game.
“We have not scored a goal but that is not our aim - our aim is to win. If we just score one goal and lose it won’t change anything. It is my responsibility to get the best for team.
“Scotland are physically very strong. We have to be prepared for that but play our own football. We cannot just accept their game because if we do that then we will be in trouble. We have to follow our own tactics.”
