Andy Robertson: Scotland 'outfought' as Slovenia overturn lead in 2-1 Nations League loss
October 7, 2026 00:50
WHAT HAPPENED
Scotland led at half-time through Ryan Christie's close-range backheel, but were described as "alarmingly open defensively" as Danijel Sturm and Aljosa Matko struck in the second half to turn the game around.
REACTION
Robertson said: "We didn't do the good things we did on Saturday, I don't know what that's down to. They caused us a lot of problems and we have to find the reasons why." He suggested tiredness as a possibility, but noted Slovenia had played the same number of games and "looked a lot fresher, more hungry." Robertson added: "As Scotland, we might lack quality or make mistakes, but I don't think people accept being outfought. I think that's what happened tonight."
Manager Sebastien Pocognoli echoed his captain: "We didn't deserve to get the win, that's the reality. On the ball we were not clever enough. We were far from strong enough in the duels." He said each game provides information to learn from and that the squad will try to "do better in the next one."
Former Scotland midfielder Andy Halliday told Sportsound he felt Pocognoli's "period of grace is now over" and called the display "as poor a Scotland performance as I can remember for a while." Ex-captain Willie Miller criticised the defending of Pocognoli's preferred back-three system, saying it was "all over the place" with "huge gaps appearing" that Slovenia exploited.
CONTEXT
Pocognoli replaced Steve Clarke in August and pledged a more attacking approach while introducing several new faces. Josh McPake made his Scotland debut against Slovenia, following earlier call-ups for Stephen Welsh, Robbie Ure, Luis Binks and Luke Graham. Under Pocognoli Scotland had drawn 0-0 in Slovenia in his first match in charge and suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Switzerland after an early red card for Jack Hendry. A convincing win over North Macedonia had provided optimism earlier in the camp, but that momentum was dented by Saturday's result.