The 32-year-old has spoken before about the camaraderie in the Scotland squad and how something akin to a club atmosphere has been a strength. But he mentioned there was a strange flipside to that as the squad spent four months apart after booking their place at the World Cup.

“To have such a special night against Denmark, and obviously we gave it a good go in terms of partying that night, but then for all of us to break up and not really see each other for the next four months is quite unique,” added Robertson.

“The faces when we met up on Monday were happy ones. Everyone was excited to be back in camp and back together but that’s the atmosphere we’re trying to create.

“Me and the gaffer have been really on that and obviously we’ve needed other people with us at times as well to do that but it’s about members of staff wanting to come and wanting to work and being excited to be involved.

“It’s about players doing everything to be fit and available for Scotland.

“I think that’s only going to drive people who are not in the squad now, desperate to be in the squad and desperate to be involved in the summer. Everyone’s competing for a place in that 26-man squad.”

Scotland squad prepares to face JapanImage source, SNS
Image caption,

The Scotland squad is back together for the first time since November

Play-off results show importance of Scotland achievement

Robertson expects an excited Hampden crowd on Saturday as everyone looks forward to the World Cup.

However, he is glad to be playing friendlies rather than being involved in nerve-shredding play-offs to reach the finals.

Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland all suffered play-off defeats this week and will miss out on the tournament in USA, Mexico and Canada, making Robertson appreciate automatic qualification even more.

“My initial thoughts were that it shows how hard it is to qualify for the World Cup,” he mentioned when asked for his reaction to the results.

“I don’t think people need to realise in this country but I hope it maybe sets another reminder of how special what the lads and staff and everyone else connected did collectively.

“It’s so hard to first of all finish top of your group but then, if you don’t, you go into the play-offs.

“I think last night when the games kicked off I was delighted we’ve got a friendly on Saturday, we weren’t involved in any games yesterday.

“It’s just about us looking forward to the World Cup now, just everyone enjoying the achievement and hopefully they can go and achieve more.”

Now the countdown to the finals continues with two games against non-European opposition and Robertson mentioned that was a rarity he was looking forward to, as well as expecting questions to be asked of his side.

“They are really important, amazing games to be involved in,” he added.

“It’s also the chance to see the whole squad and to see what other lads do. The manager’s always been quite good at using these games.

“We want to go into the World Cup with momentum.”

Related topics

  • Scottish Football
  • Football
  • Scotland Men’s Football Team

✔ today silver rate

✔ 2026 winter olympics

✔ chat gtp

✔ silver rate today

✔ silver rate today live

✔ 2030 winter olympics

Read More

Sports

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *