Hearts' John Souttar vows to bounce back after '˜horrible' Scots loss

Hearts defender John Souttar was left dazed and distraught after his red card and Scotland's defeat in Israel, but has vowed to bounce back.
John Souttar picked up a second booking for this coming together with Munas Dabbur. Pic: AFPJohn Souttar picked up a second booking for this coming together with Munas Dabbur. Pic: AFP
John Souttar picked up a second booking for this coming together with Munas Dabbur. Pic: AFP

Souttar, winning his third cap in Haifa on Thursday night, was sent off for a second bookable offence on 61 minutes during the 2-1 Nations League Group C1 defeat by the hosts.

The result leaves all three teams in the pool locked on three points ahead of Albania’s trip to Israel on Sunday.

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Scotland’s performance has been widely derided across the nation as the heat increases on manager Alex McLeish, with certain members of the Tartan Army booing the team from the pitch after the match at the Sammy Ofer Stadium.

Souttar admitted that he felt low after a harrowing night - he will miss next month’s clash with the Albanians due to suspension - but the 22-year-old believes the national team can recover.

“It’s was a horrible night for the team and for me personally,” said Souttar.

“We got the goal and we really thought we’d dig the result out but, in the end, it’s a nightmare.

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“I thought both my bookings were soft but maybe I’ll need to see them again.

“The way I feel just now, with the game still so fresh, it’s all a bit of a blur.

“At the sending off, I tried to turn and play the ball back to Allan McGregor and then it all happened so fast.

“The one thing I have to say is that I put the referee in the position where he had to make a decision - but it definitely felt soft at the time.

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“It’s really hard to work out everything that went wrong so soon after the defeat.

“We’ll go through all the video analysis and try to come back from it. We’ve got two big games now in November and we need to be ready for them.

“That dressing room was a horrible place to be at the end. Everyone’s so down about what’s happened. But that’s football - you have to deal with situations likes these.

“Robert Snodgrass came up to me after the game and told me plenty of others had been in my shoes. They’ve been sent off in big games and they’ve recovered.

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“It’s just such a horrible side of football. For Scotland to be successful means so much to everyone but all we can do is bounce back.

“This is such a low night but I’m sure there’s the morale in the squad to bounce back.”

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