Steven Naismith strikes to give Scotland hope of Nations League salvation

• Scotland 2-0 Albania
• Djimsiti 47og; Naismith 68

There was no acceptable alternative to victory for Alex McLeish in this, Scotland’s Nations League opener. The manager – unmoved from the pitchside for 90 minutes in pouring rain – knew that alright, such has been the scale of audible discontentment as surrounding the Scottish team. Handily for McLeish, Albania provided woefully limited opposition on the kind of mundane occasion so disappointingly removed from those that made Hampden Park a place for visiting teams to fear. Still, in this context, a win mattered more than anything. That Scotland fully deserved it was a bonus.

This success affords McLeish that priceless managerial commodity: breathing space. Earlier friendly fixtures cannot be discarded in analysis of this, McLeish’s second tenure, but here Scotland won when it mattered. The Nations League may yet prove their major tournament salvation.

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