Sebastian Pocognoli insists his vision for Scotland remains unaffected despite getting off to a shaky start.
After a 0-0 draw away in Slovenia in his first match at the helm, Pocognoli’s new-look side were then thumped 3-0 by Switzerland at Hampden on Tuesday night.
The Scots were forced to play with ten men for the majority of the match after Jack Hendry was sent off for a needless last-man foul after only eight minutes.
Despite his team failing to score in either of his first two matches, Pocognoli is determined to stick to his guns.
The Scotland head coach remains fully committed to his plan of changing the team’s style of play – and believes it’s important not to panic or overthink things.
But the 39-year-old Belgian also admitted it will be vital to win in North Macedonia on Saturday to finally generate some momentum.
Asked whether he had any concerns, he replied: ‘No, why I would be affected? We had a good feeling after Slovenia, we had a good feeling at the start of the Switzerland game.
Sebastien Pocognoli insists his vision for Scotland remains intact despite a shaky start to his reign
‘We just need to stay calm and not overthink things, especially the players. We have to go against Macedonia and start from zero and try to do what we did against Switzerland.
‘I think the fans were realistic about what happened on the pitch against Switzerland. Everybody felt the disappointment.
‘It is a difficult game to analyse because we played 80 per cent of the game against a strong side one man down.
‘I would rather concede the penalty and continue with 11 men and show what we have prepared for. That frustrated me a little bit.
‘Sometimes you can stay alive if they make a mistake, give the ball away, give up a set piece. But they didn’t give us anything which could give us hope.
‘The only thing I could analyse was how they dealt with the situation, how brave they were, whether they collapsed or not.
‘Actually, they did what they needed to do in that situation, which was to work together, defend the box as well as possible and try to do something in transition. But it was difficult.
‘In that situation, they did well. Honestly, I don’t have anything negative to say to you. We started on the front foot and the red card was disappointing.’
Scotland have now gone four matches without scoring for the first time since 1971.
Asked about a run which stretches back to the World Cup, Pocognoli said: ‘I try to take a step back from this because it is building from the past.
‘We created a lot of chances against Slovenia and I saw some good things. Against Switzerland we didn’t have that one good moment.
‘I hope it can give a taste to the strikers to end this, but it is not an objective to fight against this stat. We have to take some distance from it.’
Whilst it is still early in his tenure, the need for Scotland to win in Skopje on Saturday night cannot be overstated.
North Macedonia have lost each of their opening two matches in the Nations League; 3-0 against Switzerland last night and 2-0 against Slovenia on Tuesday.
Scotland will be fully expected to win and finally get the Pocognoli era up and running.
Asked about the need to lift the players, the head coach said: ‘It was really easy for me after the game.
‘I just said: “Guys, everybody was really excited to come and watch something. It didn’t happen. Let’s try to go again and have a good game for 90 minutes without any rollercoaster situation”.
‘I told them they had the right attitude. Regarding Jack’s red card? It is our red card and we have to deal with it collectively.
‘It is part of the process unfortunately. It is one moment that I hope can make us stronger in future.
‘The good thing is we have a game on Saturday and next week we can go to Hampden again. Hopefully we will have a better feeling than we did against Switzerland.
‘Both (I want a result and performance on Saturday). I think we need to win if we want to step up the rankings.
‘It is a tough place to go, but if we can combine performance and result I will be happy.
‘But we need a good result for the staff, who have been working hard, and also for the players, who have had a top-class attitude and work ethic since day one.’
Pocognoli also paid tribute to Scotland captain Andy Robertson, who is poised to win his 100th cap against North Macedonia.
‘He is a great captain,’ said the Scotland boss. ‘From the first day, he has important for me, as he was for the previous coach.
‘He is really committed about creating a connection between the coaching staff and the players.
‘He is always giving his best and is very proud to represent Scotland every time. He is really important for all of us.
‘It is fantastic (to reach 100 caps). I think it means a lot for him as well. He is very proud whenever he is here.
‘I know Scotland is one of his main targets at this time in his career. I hope we can extend his number of games and I think we will.’
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