ANDY ROBERTSON says that a hangover from the emotional victory over Israel could have cost Scotland a vital win against the Faroe Islands, but praised his teammates for digging out another last-gasp win.
Steve Clarke's men left it late once more in an uninspiring display in Torshavn, but Lyndon Dykes' fourth goal in four international games gave the Scots a crucial three points.
For skipper Robertson, that was the only thing that mattered, with Scotland now knowing a win over Moldova next month will be enough to secure a World Cup play-off spot.
"The Faroes, coming here, is a difficult game," Robertson said. "There is an AstroTurf pitch that none of us are really used to.
"They are physical, they are strong, they played their game plan really well. We didnt play our game plan to exactly how we wanted it.
"Saturday was really emotional with adrenaline and everything going into the game and how it ended.
"Maybe the lads had a wee bit of a hangover from that, I don’t know.
"But when games are like that, it’s so important to get there in the end.
"We could easily have been standing here 0-0. November is already tough but that would have made it a lot, lot harder. I’m glad we got there in the end but we’ll need to be a lot better than that going forward.
"It’s a massive win. A huge three points. Probably the less said about the performance, the better.
"We weren’t at our best. First half, we were poor. They won every second ball. We needed Craigy (Gordon), what a save he’s made. It could have been a lot different.
"When you come to these places, people expect you to get easy points. But you saw Austria only won 2-0 and scored late, Denmark scored in the 86th minute to win it 1-0.
"We knew it was going to be tough. But the confidence they got from winning second balls and getting a chance lifted them, along with their fans.
"We had to dig deep. We didn’t play well at all. But six points at the start of this week was crucial.
"Now we are close to what we set out to achieve and it’s important to keep that in mind."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here