Darren Fletcher backs Craig Levein and hails 'great courage' of Scotland team

Published on Wednesday 8 September 2010 19:32

SCOTLAND captain Darren Fletcher has shrugged off criticism of Tuesday night's fortuitous 2-1 victory over Liechtenstein at Hampden, claiming that the team showed "great courage" to grind out the result and insisting manager Craig Levein is on course to improve the fortunes of the national team.

• Craig Levein and Darren Fletcher breathed a sigh of relief at full-time at Hampden on Tuesday Picture: SNS

Hopes of qualifying for the 2012 European Championship finals remain intact despite the inept nature of Scotland's performance against the Group I makeweights. Stephen McManus's 97th-minute winner took Levein's squad to the top of the section as Lithuania recorded an upset 1-0 win in the Czech Republic.

But while Levein dismissed the way Scotland played as "irrelevant" when set against the implications of the result, unflattering analysis of the former Hearts and Dundee United manager's initial work in his current role is inevitable.

Fletcher, however, has defended Levein and predicted progress will be made under him when the qualifying campaign resumes next month with matches away to the Czech Republic and at home to world champions Spain.

"You could see we were low on confidence after the last campaign," said Fletcher. "Coming in, it's difficult because Craig doesn't have much time to spend with us. Each time we get together, he is trying to add something new to us.

"Craig is slowly but surely trying to stamp his mark on the team and I think we're getting there.

"He started off trying to make us solid in defence, organised off the ball and making sure we work hard. On Tuesday night, we tried to take the game to Liechtenstein in the first half and if we had got an early goal, it might have been a different game. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and the longer the game went on, the more confident they became.

"The crowd got frustrated and they have every right to be frustrated. The most important thing is that the frustration doesn't transform the players and they start hiding. That's what you saw on Tuesday night, when the crowd did get a bit disappointed, no-one in our team hid.

"Everyone still wanted the ball and that's very pleasing. We understand their frustrations and we were frustrated ourselves, but it's about staying positive and keeping believing in yourselves that you're going to get a result."

With Spain the bookmakers' 1-10 favourites to win Group I, a status unchanged by their 4-1 friendly defeat against Argentina in Buenos Aries on Tuesday, securing second place and a play-off spot is regarded as Scotland's best hope of success. On the back of last Friday's goalless draw in Lithuania, anything less than maximum points for Scotland against Liechtenstein would have all but put qualification beyond them.

"It was a win and that's all that matters," added Fletcher."It doesn't matter if you score in the first minute or the last minute, the most important thing is winning the match and taking three points. I think we showed great courage all night. We showed great resilience and battled right to the end.

"We kept trying to play the ball wide and put crosses into the box because they made it difficult to play through the middle of them. You have just got to keep believing. It's not over until the final whistle. Many teams have won games in the last minute. Sometimes it gives you some confidence to know that you have not played well but you have shown great determination to score late on."

Fletcher earned his 50th cap on Tuesday night, securing a place on the SFA's International Roll of Honour, but the Manchester United midfielder admitted to mixed emotions at reaching the career milestone on a night when his ambition of appearing in a major finals almost suffered another major setback.

"It's a special moment," he said. "To represent your country is fantastic but to get 50 caps is a nice moment for me and my family. But the most important thing was the three points and to qualify for a major tournament. Caps are great, making 50 caps is great, but the reason you play for your country is to play in a major tournament and that's what everyone in the squad wants."