ALEX McLeish has targeted automatic qualification for the Euro 2020 finals - despite leading Scotland to a play-off spot through the Nations League.
The national team booked a place in the play-off semi-final with a thrilling 3-2 win over Israel in their final Group C1 match at Hampden on Tuesday night.
They will take on Finland – unless the Nordic nation secure their place at Euro 2020 through the traditional route – in a one-off semi-final at home in March 2020 if they come up short in their qualifying campaign next year.
If they win that they will progress to a final that will be played either home or away - the venue will be determined by a draw in November next year.
However, McLeish, whose side will be seeded third for the Euro 2020 draw in Dublin on Sunday week as a result of their triumph over Israel, is eager for Scotland to book their place in their first finals since France ’98 without relying on the play-offs.
“We want to qualify from the group as well,” he said. “We have got to target that. We can’t just rely on this play-off thing. We want to qualify from the group. Now the players have got a wee bit of momentum.
“You can’t preclude that you will lose players, and lose some of your good ones, at certain moments. That can obviously be difficult. It can be hard to keep the momentum and keep winning.
“But we believe the way we have come through these two games (against Albania and Israel) everybody will be desperate to come back and play for Scotland.”
The fact that Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey all reached the Euro 2016 finals despite being placed in pot three in the qualifying draw has given McLeish belief that Scotland can book a place at Euro 2020.
So, too, can the success that Wales, who reached the semi-finals in France after being seeded fourth in their qualifying group, and Albania, Iceland and Northern Ireland, who all booked their places in the finals even though they were seeded fifth, enjoyed last time around.
“It is realistic,” he said. “Third seeds have done it before. That’s a fact. We will now be dangerous third seeds. Being third seeds is progress.
“I think we have got to be happy at how we’ve done. We had a go to top the group and we have done that. Now we, like every good team, will put it in the past.
“We have got to use these games, and the fact we can get there, to our advantage. But we want to qualify from the group stage. We want to qualify.”
McLeish came in for criticism following some poor displays and disappointing defeats to Belgium, Israel and Portugal.
He was also was forced to dismiss speculation about there being unrest in the Scotland camp after no fewer than nine players pulled out of the final Nations League double header.
But the 59-year-old believes the 4-0 win over Albania in Shkoder on Saturday and the 3-2 triumph against Israel on Tuesday night has got the Tartan Army firmly behind him and his players ahead of their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
“I think we won them over on Tuesday night,” he said. “We celebrated with the fans. It is something we haven’t done for a wee while. We put one foot in the door of the Euros.
“At the end of the day the only way you can get folk to support you is to win. We have won two in a row there, back-to-back. But we know there is still work to be done.”
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