Sebastien Pocognoli has warned his Scotland players they will need to be featuring regularly for their club sides to get selected for the national team when their Euro 2028 qualifying campaign gets underway.
Pocognoli, who will take charge of a match at Hampden for the first time this evening when Andy Robertson and his team mates take on Switzerland in their second Nations League match, admitted he is unconcerned about the likes of Ben Gannon-Doak not starting on a weekly basis at this early stage in the season.
However, the Belgian head coach, whose team ground out a 0-0 draw with Slovenia in their opening Group B1 game in Ljubljana on Saturday, confessed that he will have issues selecting footballers who are not getting game time in March next year.
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“I think Ben will get the games because Bournemouth have the Europa League coming,” he said. “He will play, he will get time. Billy [Gilmour] has played for Napoli in recent weeks since the Champions League has started. So the teams will start to rotate.
“What concerns me is when March comes. If the players aren’t playing a lot then we will struggle with the physical aspects of the game. The demands on the effort are massive. Right now it is okay because it is after pre-season. In November we will see. But we need to have players who have played.
“I can’t make the choice for them. We have a target at the end of the season and we will try to make the best decision. Right now it is too early to say he has got this wrong. What I can propose is come to the national team, have a good time and play games.”
Pocognoli left supporters' favourite Gannon-Doak out of his first Scotland starting line-up against Slovenia – but he was impressed with the former Celtic kid’s contribution when he came on in the second half.
The former Royal Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco manager revealed that he had taken the winger aside to reassure him that he is a major part of plans going forward - but confessed he would like the £20m player to get more minutes at the Vitality Stadium.
“I spoke with Ben today because he wants to play and he will maybe play tomorrow,” he said. “But I just wanted to make sure he is okay because it is hard for him if he is not playing (for Bournemouth) and then he comes here and he doesn’t play the first game.
“He needs some love from us - and then go back to Bournemouth and smash it! I hope the camp can help players who do not play a lot of minutes to go back to their club in a good frame of mind.
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“I have been speaking to everyone, but I mention him because we are speaking about playing time in the club. With Ben, he is a special case. He needs this. I just explained that it is important. It is important with other players, but his profile is quite unique in the squad.”
Pocognoli continued, “If he plays for his club he will come in a different shape and confident. If you are in action week after week it is totally different to come with the national team, because you are used to it. But I don’t see there is any problem with this right now. It is just after pre-season.
“I am sure for the next camp he will have had starting minutes for Bournemouth. It will be a concern maybe later on if players stay on the bench longer. Probably the mentality can drop. We also have some good players out of the squad who will have to push for the second camp.”
