CALDWELL HAPPY

SCOTLAND defender Gary Caldwell insists there are signs the team is making big strides under Craig Levein.

Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Lithuania kept the Scots’ Euro 2012 play-off hopes alive, with defeat for the Czech Republic against Spain next month giving Levein’s men the chance to leapfrog their rivals in Group I with victory in Liechtenstein 24 hours later. Caldwell said: “We all know that we’ve got a long way to go to become a really successful team but I think everyone can see the improvement we’ve had since Craig came in.

“We are all working really hard to get better still and qualify for a major finals. I think you have to ignore the outside influence and people’s opinions. We believe we’re going in the right direction but results have to show that.

“After beating Lithuania we can look to the next two qualifiers now with a bit more hope and optimism. We played a difficult team under a lot of pressure and managed to scrape the win but it gives us the belief now we can get on and get that second place.”

Cause for optimism was evident in the way Scotland coped with the loss of several experienced players. Barry Bannan, Don Cowie and David Goodwillie all made positive contributions in their first competitive starts after Levein lost Charlie Adam and Barry Robson to injury and Scott Brown and Kenny Miller to suspension.

“It shows a lot that we can bring these guys in, young players,” Caldwell said. “We have a bright future, I think. A few of them did themselves no harm in terms of the next game and putting the manager under pressure to play them. It shows we are getting a squad together that can compete at this level.”