(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
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Andy Robertson says he’s as hungry as he’s ever been to achieve more success for Scotland under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli.
The 32-year-old achieved hit the 100-cap milestone for his country on Saturday night in the 2-0 Nations League win over North Macedonia. The Spurs full-back has already led Scotland to three major tournaments under previous gaffer Steve Clarke. But after hitting a ton of appearances, Robertson insists he’s in no mood to let up.
Instead, he insists Pocognoli’s appointment has given him and others in the squad fresh impetus - to secure their play at the next Euro Finals in 2028. Robertson, who is now just two behind all-time cap holder Kenny Dalglish, said: “Of course, I want to achieve more. That’s why we’re all here.
“You want to do as well as possible for the manager who is in charge. I have always tried to do that under every manager. Obviously, the last reign was the most successful in Scotland’s history. But now we’ve got a new manager and we want to try and give him as many highs as we had in the past. We all want to be a part of that. All of us who are still here have the same aim – to get to the Euros and compete at the Euros. There is no point doing it if that is not your aim. We are as determined as ever.
“We want to try and get to another major tournament and do what we haven’t done before. We know that is a long way off. We are taking it step by step, we are getting better and better. Saturday night was a really complete performance. I think you are starting to see the manager’s ideas more and more. And hopefully the more games we play, the better we become and we can be at that home Euros.”
Robertson appears to be thriving in Pocognoli’s new 3-4-2-1 system, which has seen him move further up the pitch to play as a wing-back again for Scotland. The skipper had several chances to score against North Macedonia, as Kieron Bowie and John McGinn grabbed the goals in a comfortable win.
Scotland's John McGinn celebrates scoring a penalty to make it 2-0 vs North Macedonia
Scotland's John McGinn celebrates scoring a penalty to make it 2-0 vs North Macedonia (Image: SNS Group)
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The captain says he’s enjoying the role bus it willing to adapt to suit the manager’s way of playing. Robertson said: “It’s just different ways of playing. This manager adapts to the teams we play against and how they set up. As soon as the teams dropped on Saturday, we realised they were playing a back five. Doaky (Ben Gannon-Doak) and I said: ‘OK, we can push on to their wing backs’.
“We tried to be on the front foot and positive. Will that be the case in every game? Maybe not. For instance, when we played against Switzerland, even if we had kept 11 men on the park maybe we would have sat a bit deeper. “This manager can adapt. We can change our game style depending on who we are playing. But on Saturday night, we played on the front foot and pressed them high. I think we did that really well.”