IF there is one positive to take from Scotland’s slow burner of a World Cup qualification campaign, it is that the concept of a "must win" game is not alien to those under Gordon Strachan’s charge.
It is no surprise then that Andy Robertson says Scotland will be undaunted by the prospect of what is effectively a win-a-bust 90 minutes in Ljubljana tonight.
In March Chris Martin rescued Scotland against Slovenia to keep alive their chances in Group F, while the significance of winning in Lithuania and at home to Malta and Slovakia was not lost on any of the players in dark blue – or glow-in-the-dark pink – who now face a similar objective this evening in the pursuit of a play-off spot.
“We’ve had must-win games recently as we’ve gone along. I hope that helps,” said the Liverpool left-back. “The last couple of campaigns, we’ve gone into the last game with nothing to play for.
“We went into the Gibraltar away last and I think everyone remembers how brilliant the fans were that day. And we were playing for nothing.
“It certainly doesn’t have the same feeling this time, I’m sure the whole country will be buzzing and everyone will be watching it wherever they are. We are on a run and we just need to keep it going for one more game to get to a play-off.
“As a nation, we go over there believing we can get in the play-offs. And hopefully it’s a day of joy at the end. If you look back a year to after Lithuania at home, everyone thought that was the campaign over. The next couple of home games, no one really showed up.
“There was only maybe 30,000 at Slovenia and that’s not like us. The fans have all come back and that’s credit to all the boys because we’ve obviously been doing it on the pitch. Since that Lithuania game we’ve not really slipped up. We will look forward to Sunday and it’s maybe a position that people never thought we’d be in.
“We’ve never doubted ourselves and luckily we’re going into the last game looking for something.”
Robertson insists they have always had tghe same belief in the manager as in themselves.
“I think people have doubted him in his time as manager but I don’t think any of the players or any of the staff have ever doubted him. We’ve always been 100 per cent behind him.”
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