ALEX McLeish was visibly angered when it was suggested to him in fairly blunt terms that he, not a freakish catalogue of injuries, may have been the reason for so many players pulling out of the Scotland double header with Albania and Israel on Friday night.
But insinuations that an unhappiness with the national team manager and his methods was to blame for the high number of withdrawals were quickly dispelled in the Loro Borici Stadium in Shkoder on Saturday evening.
Would James Forrest, who hadn’t even got on as a substitute in against Belgium and Albania at Hampden back in September, have turned up and made himself available for selection if he wasn’t behind the head coach?
Would the Celtic winger have continued to play for his country after being overlooked for the Group C1 fixture with Israel in Haifa last month just four days after scoring four goals against St Johnstone away?
Would the diminutive forward, who netted his first goals for his country with a well-take second-half double on the occasion of his 25th cap, have performed so superbly if he had been anything other than fully committed? It is all highly doubtful.
The 27-year-old never had any issues with the man at the helm or any intentions of turning his back on his country even when he wasn’t featuring. He remains determined to make as many appearances for his country as possible and, after opening his international account, score as many goals as he can
“Every time you go away with Scotland you want to impress in training,” he said. “The same is true when you are playing with your club side. You want to play well and play for your national team. When you get your chance you want to take it because there are a lot of good players playing at a good level. If I can keep performing well and scoring goals hopefully I can stay in the team.
“The manager and coaching staff have been upbeat all week. Obviously there were a lot of call-offs. But we couldn’t do much about it. The manager knows that, even with all the players who pulled out, we still have a lot of good players who are playing well for their club sides. Everyone was confident.
“I was absolutely delighted. It was a great night. To win my 25th cap, score two goals and contribute to the win was amazing. Hopefully we can take that on to Tuesday. When you are playing with confidence things come off. But I just want to contribute to the team.
“I have just tried not to think about it (not scoring for Scotland). You always hope you get chances. I have had chances in games before. I am just glad I got on the scoresheet. I just want to win as many caps for Scotland as possible and be as successful as I can.”
Forrest added: “It was a great feeling. I have played a few times for Scotland before and I haven’t scored. I was pleased that my goals helped us win. It was a great performance. You know you are playing with good players and you will get chances. I have taken a couple on Saturday and now I just want to get as many as I can.
“Even at the start of the game I thought we could score. We started really well and had chances even when they had 11 men. When a team goes down to 10 men sometimes they can sit back and make it hard for you. It can go the opposite way. But we played in a very attacking way. We scored four and could have had more.
“It is definitely up there with anything I have done in my career. Scoring for Scotland in a competitive game was special. I think it will give me confidence that I can score more going forward.
“I think the boys and the coaching staff will be really pleased with Saturday night. We will take a couple of days to recover now. Hopefully we can do it on Tuesday as well."
Forrest felt the change in formation – McLeish abandoned the four man backline that had backfired so spectacularly in the 2-1 defeat to Israel in Haifa last month in favour of a three man defence – had suited Scotland and is confident that he and his team mates can secure the result they need at Hampden tomorrow evening.
“We had a lot of runners from middle to front,” he said. “We had a lot of players who play in a similar way for their club sides. That did help the other night. Everyone knew the system. It worked really well. We just need to make sure that we don’t take it for granted on Tuesday. We will start again.
“I was only seven when Scotland last qualified for a finals (France ’98). It was a good wee while ago now. But we will just take it a game at a time. We will go again on Tuesday and take it from there.”
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