McGregor encourages Scotland to get over mental hurdle

Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor has warned that the mentality among the Scotland squad must improve if the national side harbour any hope of qualifying for another major tournament.

Scotland last qualified for a major tournament in 1998, when they placed bottom of their World Cup group in France. Ahead of this week’s double Nations League clash against Albania and Israel, McGregor has called on the squad to psych themselves up for the important games.

McGregor believes that the players have the talent, but there needs to be a psychological shift. When asked about whether there was an issue regarding the mental challenge of playing a team in form, as quoted by the Scottish Herald, McGregor said:

I think so. Certainly away from home. We had a tough night away in Israel and it is about the mental state of the players as much as anything. We are all good players and we have all shown that at club level but it is about trying to bring that and harness the team spirit. We want to get the country to a positive place where they want to be.

When you have not had a period of success then it gets to fans and it is our job to bring that excitement back and to try and qualify. It is a lot of pressure and a big responsibility for the players but this group of players are certainly good enough to do it. It is just a case of trying to get everything right off the pitch and on the pitch.

Any player wants to win and be successful and particularly the Celtic lads have had massive success in the last few years and it almost becomes normal.

If you are not winning then you think ‘what’s going on here, what’s happening?’ I think it is important to try and bring that winning mentality to the squad. I think it is probably a collective responsibility. We have got to be better than what we were in the last trip and we need results. We are at a stage now where we need to get results.