Head coach Steve Clarke says the quality of Scotland’s performance against Belarus on Monday is irrelevant as long as his side secure three points.
The Belarusians lost 5-1 in Greece in their opening World Cup qualifier on Friday, but Clarke would take a one-goal win in neutral venue of Hungary as the Scots look to build on the positivity of an opening goalless draw in Denmark.
“We expect a tough night, they’re a competent side,” Clarke said. “I was a little bit surprised that they lost by the margin that they lost in Greece.
“We’ll take the win if we can get it, however it comes. If it’s by one goal, if it’s by two goals, whatever. First of all, we need to make sure that we get the win.”
Midfielder John McGinn spoke about the need for Scotland to get back to being “horrible” to play against, as they showed against Denmark.
And Clarke agreed with that assessment, suggesting it is those attributes that could underpin Scotland’s attempts to reach the World Cup finals in United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.
“Horrible in a good way,” the head coach said. “Horrible in that they make it really difficult for the opposition, they work ever so hard when we don’t have the ball.
“It’s nice to do the bits that catch the attention – the good shots, the good play – but the basics, the nuts and bolts of football, are about doing the dirty stuff, the stuff where you have to do your hard yards off the ball.
“If we can do that across the six games, then I think we can get enough points.”