Scotland captain Andy Robertson believes the team will go from strength to strength after claiming their first win under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli.
On a night which saw skipper Robertson win his 100th cap, the Scots were utterly dominant as they beat North Macedonia 2-0 in their Nations League clash in Skopje.
Kieron Bowie set them on their way to victory with a terrific finish from outside the box after just seven minutes, the 24-year-old striker notching his first goal for his country.
The Scots missed multiple good chances and also had a penalty ruled out by a VAR check after an apparent foul on the excellent Ben Gannon-Doak.
But they still had far too much for the North Macedonians, with John McGinn stepping up to score a penalty in the second half after a handball by Rangers striker Bojan Miovski.
As was the case against Switzerland, the Scots finished the match with 10 men after a late red card to Scott McKenna, but this was a much-needed boost for Pocognoli in his third match at the helm.
Scotland captain Andy Robertson takes the acclaim of the Tartan Army at full-time in Skopje
Robertson almost capped his centurion status with a goal in the 2-0 win at North Macedonia
Delighted to get the new era up and running, Robertson said: ‘I thought we were excellent. I thought we done really well on a really difficult pitch.
‘I thought we could have been four, five-nil up at times, and then we didn’t take the chances.
‘We made it a wee bit interesting for ourselves towards the end. But then I thought we defended so well for the last 10 minutes, defended our box and kept a clean sheet.
‘So the performance all round was really good. It was a big win. You want to get it for the manager as early as possible — and thankfully we’ve done that tonight.’
Robertson became only the second player in history to reach 100 caps and now sits only two behind the record of 102 held by fellow Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish.
He looked like a man possessed at times last night, firing four good shots at goal in the first half in particular.
‘I thought I was going to get his (Dalglish’s) goalscoring record as well,’ joked the skipper about the number of shots he had. ‘But I think he’s got that one safe in the bag.
‘I believe I’ve still got a lot to give for this country. Hopefully the performances are showing that, apart from the pass (leading to the red card) to Scott McKenna! I apologise for that.
‘I’ll need to go in to say sorry to him. But the guys did a really nice presentation in the afternoon for me.
‘I think my message was clear: I just wanted to win. You always want to remember these.
Skipper Andy Robertson and Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli at the full-time whistle
‘I always remember my first game as captain, we got beat 4-0 at home to Belgium. So it was a bit bittersweet.
‘But tonight, thankfully, the lads done so well to get the win. That will be memorable for a long time for me and all my family.
‘It’s been such an amazing journey. I love Scotland, I love playing for my country. It is a special achievement.’
It was a hugely encouraging night for Pocognoli, whose side dominated from the first whistle to the last in Skopje to clinch his first win at the third time of asking.
The Scots will now round off the international window when they take on Slovenia back at Hampden on Tuesday night.
‘I’m very pleased with this first win,’ said Pocognoli. ‘I think we played very well, created a lot of chances, we’ve kept two clean sheets which means a lot also.
‘It was a nice game. Not everything was perfect because we should have scored more goals.
‘Kieron Bowie scored the most difficult goal from the game. I was really pleased for him because I know the topic about not scoring will have been on the table after 25 minutes.
‘I was happy for him, it’s his first goal [for Scotland]. I was really pleased with his performance and many of the lads.’
