John McGinn: It’s time for Scotland to get nasty and have few Brussels doubts

Scotland's John McGinn celebrates with Andy Robertson after the latter put the Scots ahead against Cyprus. Pic: SNS

The formr Hibs and current Aston Villa midfielder says the Scots would have been resigned to relying on their already guaranteed play-off spot for a place in next year’s finals if they had been held to a draw by Cyprus.

They were spared that ignominious position by substitute Oliver Burke’s dramatic 89th minute goal which secured a 2-1 win from Steve Clarke’s first match as manager.

Next up is the daunting assignment against world number one ranked side Belgium who, just nine months ago, swatted Scotland aside 4-0 in a friendly at Hampden.

McGinn was among those who suffered against the hugely talented Belgians that night, but the 24-year-old believes new boss Clarke has already instilled a greater level of resilience which can see Scotland start to upset the odds against even the strongest nations.

“We need to make ourselves hard to beat,” said McGinn. “There’s no doubt about that – in recent times we’ve become a soft touch.

“So we need to stop shipping goals and be nasty, get results where we’re not expected. If we can start that on Tuesday, then carry it on into the autumn, we’ll have a massive chance of qualifying from this group.

“Everyone knew how important the game against Cyprus was and we were probably moments away from our chances of automatic qualification through the group ending – everybody knew that.

“But we showed great character to come back after Cyprus made it 1-1 so late on, big Oli popping up with the goal was just magnificent. The manager had stressed all week that all 18 boys stripped needed to be ready to play a role. Credit to big Oli for coming up with such an important goal.

“Now we’ve given ourselves a real chance to qualify. We’re under no illusions. The games coming up are really tough. But we’ll take them head on.

“It’s character building when you come through a situation like Saturday. It’s always difficult when a new manager comes in and tries to impart his style in just five or six days with the group.

“But we had a really good week, the manager has been very meticulous in what he was doing and we’ve all tried to learn from him.

“In spells against Cyprus, we showed that. Over the piece, we know we need to improve. The performance needs to be a bit more consistent, even though we showed promise in spells.

“We need to make Hampden a real fortress and put teams away earlier. We don’t want to have to rely on last-minute goals every time! But we’re happy with the win.

“There is much more to come. Look at the squad we have and it’s as strong as it’s been for a long time. The last few trips, we’ve had a lot of call-offs, injuries and the like.

“It feels a lot more settled this time. Hopefully we can get the players who are in form for their clubs to show it for Scotland.”

McGinn, who provided the assist for captain Andy Robertson’s stunning opener on Saturday, believes the Liverpool full-back’s link-up with Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser and Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor on Scotland’s left flank is rich in promise.

“You saw that left-hand side we had against Cyprus, it’s probably one of the best combinations in Britain. We need to start using that to our advantage. We’re lucky to have all three – Andy, Ryan and Callum.

“Robbo is a Champions League winner and Ryan is probably coveted by the majority of top teams in the Premier League. So it’s really important to get your best players on the pitch and linking up well.

“They’ve probably not had enough of a chance to show it for Scotland, so hopefully they get a partnership going.

“I’m sure even Belgium won’t look forward to playing against that threat we have on the left-hand side. Hopefully we take that into Tuesday and give them a real problem.”