McManus hails character

Scot insists late winner was not down to luck

Last updated: 8th September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

McManus hails character

McManus: Last-gasp hero

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Scotland hero Stephen McManus insists their last-gasp victory over Liechtenstein was down to character rather than luck.

Craig Levein's men were heading for one of the worst results in their history until McManus popped up with the winner seven minutes into injury-time.

Mario Frick gave lowly Liechtenstein the lead early in the second half before Kenny Miller levelled for the hosts.

It looked like it was going to be an embarrassing night for Scotland only for McManus to head home with almost the last kick of the game, and the Middlesbrough defender insists they deserved the late winner

"It wasn't luck - you just need to keep going and keep going and keep going. If you score in the last minute it's lucky, if you score in the first minute it's good play," said McManus

"It doesn't matter when you score, as long as you get the goals. I think it was definitely down to character rather than luck."

McManus also netted against Lithuania at Hampden three years ago and claims this result was more important than personal glory.

"I've managed to score a couple goals and it was just nice to win the game," added McManus.

"It wasn't a classic to play in and we didn't play at the highest tempo. But the most important thing is that we won the game."

Feared the worst

However, with the match still level deep into injury time, he admits he did fear the worst.

"Of course you do," said McManus.

"You would love to score early goals but you just need to keep going and that's what we did.

"They kept their shape, they kept their discipline, which a lot of internationals teams do. It was up to us to break them down and we struggled at times to break them down.

"We are only two games in. You can't win the group after two games but you can certainly be out of it. Fortunately for us, we are on four points.

"You enjoy nights like this, representing your country. There are enough folk sticking the knife in and having a go at us.

"We've not played well at all but we've won the game and you need to look at the positives."