Darren Fletcher, the Scotland captain, has launched a stout defence of Gordon Strachan by insisting the manager’s refusal to publicly berate his players has helped to keep morale high. Strachan has come under fierce criticism following the 1-1 draw with Lithuania on Saturday, after which, and for merely the latest time, he was confusingly upbeat.
“All of the players have great respect for the manager,” Fletcher said. “We feel he always bats for us. He always tries to protect his players in the press. The players realise that and are very grateful.
“We’ve had a little stumble but we are ready to rebound from it. The manager lets us know when we have not been good enough. It’s not just that he’s telling us everything is great when it’s not. He comes in the dressing room and lets us know when it’s not good enough.
“There are times when we have been told we are not good enough, but there is no chance he would go out and say that publicly. He believes in us and it is up to us to go out there and respond to that.”
Scotland have the chance to immediately atone for the events in Glasgow. The match against Slovakia on Tuesday evening has added significance given the home team have lost both their opening Group F fixtures. During pre-match media duties, Fletcher constantly asserted Slovakia are “under pressure”.
But Strachan is adamant he is not under pressure. “There is always a desire for the players to play well,” said the Scotland manager. “There is no desperation to win. My desire is to see the players play well. Desperation can lead to strange things. I have a desire to see the players play to their true form and the best of their ability.
“I’m nearly 60. I’m a big boy, I’m fine. The boys are all right, they are fine, they are OK. If they weren’t all right we would have drawn in Malta [where Scotland won 5-1] and we would have got beat on Saturday. Their determination is fine. So everything is OK and we are ready to go again. But, yes, we need a big result away from home in this campaign, that’s for sure.”
This would prove an unlikely location for some Strachan respite. Upon his last trip to Slovakia, Artmedia Bratislava inflicted an embarrassing 5-0 defeat on Celtic in Strachan’s first match in charge. There was, just about, a smile from the 59-year-old when reflecting on events of 2005. “We will get a better storyline tomorrow,” Strachan said. “It’s a different place, different time, different players, different circumstance.”
Fletcher will undergo a late fitness test on a dead leg but Strachan had planned to shuffle his team for this fixture regardless of injury problems. Steven Naismith and Barrie McKay did not travel with the squad here on Monday. Intrigue surrounds who starts in attack, with Chris Martin returning a wholly unconvincing performance on Saturday amid a run which has seen him fail to score in his last 20 domestic games.
“We will definitely try and get second in this group at least,” Strachan said. “If we get first then great, but second is our target. I don’t think that’s changed in the past two games. Realistically second is the target for us.”
Slovakia (4-1-4-1, probable): Kozacik; Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Hubocan; Hrosovsky; Mak, Gregus, Hamsik, Svento; Duris.
Scotland (4-2-3-1, probable): Marshall; Paterson, R Martin, Berra, Tierney; Bannan, McArthur; Snodgrass, Ritchie, Anya; S Fletcher.
