Levein issues goals warning

Scotland coach plays down expectations

Last updated: 6th September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Levein issues goals warning

Levein: Wary of opponents

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
Watch Scotland v Liechtenstein live on Sky Sports 3, HD3 and online with Sky Player from 7.30pm on Tuesday.

SKY SPORTS ON SKY
There's more live football on Sky Sports than ever before, including the Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, England away Euro 2012 qualifiers and La Liga. With four live Sky Sports channels, as well as Sky Sports News, you'll never miss a moment on Sky. Click here for more.

Related links

Teams

Also see

Scotland manager Craig Levein has warned the Tartan Army not to expect a goal-fest against Liechtenstein on Tuesday night but admits a win from their first Euro 2012 qualifier at home is a must.

The Scots earned a goalless draw with Lithuania in their Group I opener last Friday with a lack of a cutting edge denying Levein's men a winning start.

Levein is refusing to underestimate Liechtenstein after watching their 4-0 defeat to world champions Spain and the Scotland chief has urged for patience from home fans.

"We got the DVD through the Spanish FA. Liechtenstein were very well organised," he said.

"If you look at the amount of caps the players have got, you will see that they have played together fairly regularly and there is a lot of experience in the side. They are a decent side.

"My job is to try to explain to people, and explain to the players, that this isn't just a case of just turning up and thinking we are a team who are far superior to Liechtenstein, because we're not.

Patient

"My job is to explain that we have to do our jobs properly, we might have to be patient and I stress that.

"I don't want people to get carried away and caught up in the hype that we should be scoring loads of goals at Hampden - although I would love it if we did."

Levein is well aware that three points from this match is crucial, adding: "We know that and we are here to win the game.

"I'm just trying to explain to people that it's not as simple as it looks at times.

"It's about picking the right team, putting people in the right positions and everybody playing well and playing at a decent tempo on the night.

"It's not about getting sucked into this idea that we are the better side and if we just knock the ball about for 90 minutes we will eventually win it. That's not how it works."

Levein believes the Scottish media have been guilty of being disrespectful towards Liechtenstein but concedes his own side must improve from the weekend.

"We will have to take our chances," noted Levein.

"We can create as many chances as we like but if we don't take them it's irrelevant.

"In international football, compared to what happens at club level, the amount of chances are a lot less.

"I don't think throwing every creative player that we've got onto the pitch automatically means that we are going to score more goals.

Disrespectful
"It's about balance. It's about putting the right people in the positions they are comfortable with. We also can't be disrespectful to Liechtenstein.

"This is not a team who are amateurish. They are well drilled, we have watched loads of their DVDs, they are very well organised.

"I think you guys are maybe a little bit disrespectful of Liechtenstein, that you think it's just as simple as throwing all our best players on the pitch and not worrying too much about them because they're not going to score anyway. That's not how the game works."