Scotland's Shaun Maloney admits he made contact with Wales star Gareth Bale
Saturday 13 October 2012 11:38, UK
Image:Shaun Maloney: Cleared Gareth Bale of diving in winning a penalty in Scotland's defeat to Wales
Scotland's Shaun Maloney has exonerated Gareth Bale of diving in winning a penalty during Wales' 2-1 win in their World Cup qualifier on Friday night.
Hopes
Maloney concedes their hopes of reaching the finals could be ended should they fail to beat group leaders Belgium on Tuesday.
"Obviously things are not looking good for us now," added Maloney. "This result tonight has turned a decent start into a bad one. It's not been a great start points wise and now we face a very difficult game in Belgium on Tuesday night.
"Obviously, there is going to have to be a vast improvement. I can't stand here and say that it's over if we lose against Belgium but yes, it'll make it an uphill task if we don't get the win over there.
"We just need to do better as a team. Everyone needs to look at themselves - look within themselves - and come up with a little bit more."
