Pocognoli focus on Scotland tidy-up as Euros loom

The Scotland head coach insists radical change is not required to improve his team after a mixed maiden camp. Sebastien Pocognoli won one of his first four Scotland matches during a mixed maiden camp When Sebastien Pocognoli's disjointed Scotland trudged off at a two-thirds-full Hampden after being well beaten by Slovenia, the intrigue that came with the start of the new boss' extended maiden camp had turned to a sense of deflation. A dominant display in a Nations League draw away to the Slovenians 10 days prior, plus another in a 2-0 victory at North Macedonia, had built optimism. A 3-0 defeat at home to Switzerland was written off after Jack Hendry's early red card was quickly followed by an opening goal for the 12th-ranked Fifa nation.

A second straight Hampden loss under the Belgian felt different, though. Pocognoli's side were "outfought" and simply "not good enough", said captain Andy Robertson. Cut open defensively throughout by Slovenia, placed nine spots below Scotland in the world rankings, a sobering second-half showing led to questions about approach, systems and squad make-up. However, heading into a double-header against North Macedonia and Switzerland this month, which will conclude the Scots' Nations League campaign, Pocognoli insists this is more of a clean-up job rather than one that requires any radical change. "We want to continue