Scotland v Denmark: Lady Luck, sickies & Hampden noise favour hosts

How could Scotland start so poorly and finish so impressively?

“Was it because we’ve got that mindset where a point might do, so it’s cautious?” Dodds wondered. “Maybe the cautious approach came from what we needed out of the game, but then we realised at the end, we’re desperate and we nearly did it, but it didn’t really matter in the end, did it?

“It’s all about energy and belief. That’s when we’re at our best. It’s about having a go.”

McFadden thought “lousy defending” and “a nervousness” from their previous recent meetings with Greece contributed to Saturday’s eventful defeat.

“I thought our press was really poor,” he said. “They found it far too easy to play in the areas they wanted to play and we didn’t stop them.

“The distances were too big between defence and midfield and attack, so the press was never going to work, but then the second half started much better, much more aggressive, we’re getting players forward.

“You look at Andy Robertson’s cross for Ryan Christie’s goal. Earlier in the game, he probably turns back, because it’s not perfect, it’s bouncing.

“Earlier, John McGinn wasn’t driving forward, Scott McTominay wasn’t driving forward. We are at our best when McGinn’s driving forward, when McTominay’s getting into the box, when Robertson’s getting up the line and getting crosses into the box and, for whatever reason, the last three games have not been like that.”

Clarke said afterwards that “we need to believe in ourselves more”.

“I don’t know why they don’t believe in themselves, being the players we all know they can be,” McFadden said, recalling the struggle to beat Belarus at Hampden.

“I don’t know if it’s lack of belief, I don’t know if it’s confidence, but when you watch players and they’re doing things they don’t normally do, not for the better of the team, then you start to think is it maybe time for some of these players to be replaced and then you see them driving forward and playing how they can play.

“Is it because it’s a World Cup and there’s a real fear of failure?”

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