Robertson says Scotland players know Moldova match is 'massive'

Scotland captain Andy Robertson believes the team are in the right frame of mind for their World Cup qualifying clash with Moldova and know the stakes are huge.

A win on Friday night would seal second place in qualifying group F and put Robertson and his teammates in the play-offs, just two games away from Qatar 2022.

The Liverpool defender said there was no way that they would take Moldova lightly, despite the opposition being at the bottom of the group, and that everyone was focused on success.

He said: “We know what’s at stake, we know when you get close to the end of a qualifying campaign there is no room for error and we know we are at that stage now.

“We have put ourselves in a really good spot going in to the last two games in control of our own destiny.

“It is massive but we know how hard it is going to be, they made it hard at Hampden and we are in for a tough night.

“We need to be at our best. Training has been really good this week and if we can take it into the game that should be enough for three points.

“We have had big games, big challenges, setbacks in games that we have come back from relatively well but it is important we don’t take that for granted. Every game is different with different challenges and pressures.

“I believe the players are well equipped to deal with it but we have to show that. Three points is the most important thing to secure second place.”

The core of the squad came through a similar play-off to reach Euro 2020 and end a long exile from major tournaments. Robertson thinks that having made that breakthrough is significant mentally.

“It was a barrier and a lot of people in our country probably didn’t believe that we would ever get over it,” he said. “The longer it goes the more people start thinking it is never going to happen again.

“The manager and the coaches, they changed that mentality with the help maybe me and a few of the more experienced lads.

“We wanted to change the mentality to not thinking about the last 23 years but about the here and now.

“We ticked a huge box by beating Serbia and getting to the Euros and the feeling the whole country had at a major tournament was incredible.

“Now the boys are hungry for more and so I imagine is the country because I think it really brought us together and united us and we don’t want to be sitting at home when the World Cup is on or the Euros is on – we want to be there.

“We know how hard it is to get there, how much it takes, and that is why we know how important tomorrow night is to secure the play-offs and then March will bring its own challenges.”