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McTominay says 'not all doom and gloom' as Scotland seek to end winless streak

Scotland will take on Gibraltar and Finland in June before they face hosts Germany

London (AFP) – Scott McTominay said it is "not all doom and gloom" as Scotland seek to end a six-game winless run when they face Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Steve Clarke's squad are smarting from a 4-0 friendly defeat against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday, the first of four warm-up games ahead of Euro 2024 in Germany.

After Michael O'Neill's side visit Glasgow, Scotland will take on Gibraltar and Finland in June before they face hosts Germany in the opening match of the European Championship.

The Manchester United midfielder believes Clarke's men, 34th in the FIFA rankings -- 40 places above Northern Ireland -- are still in a good place, despite recent results. "The 4-0 result was a little bit of an injustice," he said.

"You can get complacent, too excited, ahead of yourself if you take your foot off the gas and sometimes a little kick in the teeth isn't the worst thing in the world, to get everyone back to the standards that we know that we are accountable for.

"The next three games are huge. We need to regain some confidence but I don't think the confidence has dipped.

"We know we played some good stuff the other night. It is not all doom and gloom. It may seem like it with the result but we want to keep pushing and show everyone that we are a really good team."

McTominay believes Clarke's side can do what no other Scottish team has done and qualify out of the group at a major championship. "We want to be the most successful Scottish team in history, go there and show we can do it," he said.

"I am full of belief in the team, manager and coaching staff as well." Clarke said his players had to pick him up following the heavy defeat in Amsterdam.

"I tend to sulk a little bit longer than they do -- they move on a little bit quicker than I do because I probably have a little bit more to think about than they have," he said.

Clarke added: "A win would be nice, a clean sheet would be nice as well. We want to play well and obviously we want to win. "If I am being honest a win is probably more important but I think we can get both and I have no doubt we will get both."

 

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