McLeish takes ‘lots of positives’ from defeat

There was encouragement in defeat for Alex McLeish in the performance of his new-look Scotland team.

Four players got capped from the start and one off the bench, which McLeish felt was necessary at the beginning of his second period in charge of the national team. “I had to try it,” he said. “It was common sense that we looked at young players We’ve seen some great club form from them and a few did really well. I have to look for pluses.

“We were off the pace in the first half and didn’t get the tempo I wanted. We were half-way there but never fully there in terms of pressing.

“The second half was much better. There wasn’t a lot of fluidity with new caps and you have to take that into account.

“We didn’t quite have the rhythm we wanted but there were lots of positives to take from it. I know I’ll see some good things and not so good things when I’m into my analysis.”

Marcos Urena scored early in the contest and McLeish wasn’t happy at the lack of company he had in the Scottish penalty area.

“Our defenders backed off and he buried it,” he said.

“We have to engage people who come into the box. That’s one of the things I’ve been speaking to the players about.”

Oliver McBurnie and Scott McKenna were two of the new boys McLeish was pleased with.

He said: “He (McBurnie) is just a kid and has been playing with the 21s but he’s been scoring goals. There were some things that were effective. He’s receptive and he’ll listen to us about where he can do better.

“At international level you have to be clinical and he’ll probably have a sleepless night about a near miss. I thought McKenna had a good game. There was a lot of intelligence in his play.”

McLeish said it will be a different starting line-up in Budapest on Tuesday night. “Of course,” he said. “I went tonight with some players who were familiar with each other. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t.”

Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez, who played against McLeish when the two nations met in the 1990 World Cup, said: “It was a game that really helped us.

“It was difficult to know what to expect from Scotland under a new manager in Alex McLeish.

“I’m very happy with the performance, especially in the first half.

“We did well to cope with Scotland putting another player in the midfield in the second half.

“I was very pleased with how we managed the pace of the game. We were solid in defence.”