Home victories are a must, says Maloney

Shaun Maloney insists Scotland will be just as confident as Serbia heading into this weekend’s opening World Cup qualifier after their manager claimed his side were the better team and heading to Hampden for a win.

Sinisa Mihajlovic has been quoted as saying he believes the Serbs are stronger than both Scotland and Wales as they aim to take maximum points from their first two matches against the home nations.

But according to Maloney, there is no shortage of belief within Craig Levein’s camp either and he says the talking will be done on the pitch on Saturday. He said: “He is obviously confident in his team and he’s trying to give his team confidence. On our side of things, I think we have to be just as confident. I don’t think it really makes too much difference whether I sit here and think we will be better and disagree with him.

“The performance on Saturday will dictate who wins the match. I think the confidence in the squad has certainly grown over the last year-and-a-half or so.”

The Scots head into the double-header at home to Serbia and Macedonia on the back of the 3-1 win over Australia at Easter Road last month.

Maloney believes Levein’s men must continue to produce the goods at home to have a realistic chance of coming through a tough group, which also includes Wales, Belgium and Croatia. The Wigan midfielder said: “The home games are pretty crucial. All our homes games will probably dictate where we finish in the group. It’s imperative that we start off on the right foot.

“I don’t know if we need to win every one but in the majority we would need to look at getting wins. I think there will be points dropped along the way by most of the teams in the group. We need to believe. There is definitely a chance for us to qualify if we are at our best, particularly in the home matches.”

Maloney believes none of the players can take their place in the team for granted, with Levein heading into the campaign with a strong pool of players.

He said: “There is a lot of competition. If you don’t start you need to take the decision professionally and show respect for your team-mates who have been selected. If you don’t play you just get ready to hopefully make an impact from the bench.”