Levein pleased with winning habit after quality strikes see off Cyprus

SCOTLAND manager Craig Levein declared himself “a happy chappie” after a 2-1 friendly victory in Cyprus, and he took satisfaction in pointing out the win ensured his team’s record this season reads: played six, won four and drawn one, with the only defeat coming in Spain.

He described as “fantastic” the goals from Kenny Miller and Jamie Mackie that earned a success which he admitted came after a sticky opening spell. Levein was also disappointed at “not dominating” when they should have after Cyprus struck back within three minutes of Mackie making it 2-0 in the 56th minute.

Scotland’s two strikes in truth illuminated an otherwise half-light display in a sparsely-populated Larnaca stadium lacking any lustre, but Levein preferred to bask in a victory glow.

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“If we can keep winning it is a very good habit to be in,” the manager said. “We had some good performances and played some good football.

“In international football you don’t often get many chances, and I felt we had enough chances tonight that would normally come our way in two international games.

“The most important thing for us is to continue to improve. There were some encouraging signs. Coming away from home at any time in the international game, it’s difficult to win. We managed to do that tonight. There were some good performances and overall I’m a happy chappie.

“Sometimes in internationals the game starts and people have to find their feet. There are a few guys who haven’t played for a little while and I felt it took us a little bit to get into it. But the first half we passed the ball pretty well going forward and looking at the nature of the chances Cyprus had, we caused our own problems at times just giving up possession in pretty safe areas and inviting the attacks on top of us, but overall I’m pleased.”

Goalscorer Miller, meanwhile, rated his 16th Scotland strike – which makes him the sixth top scorer in the history of the national side – as his best of that tally. “I really don’t think I’ve scored a better goal,” the 31-year-old said of the exquisite lob midway through the first period that came after a crossfield pass from deep by Christophe Berra. “The most pleasing thing about it, though, is that it was something we spent all week working on in training. We spent a good bit of time on it, hitting long diagonals with me pulling off the defender. That’s something the gaffer has worked hard on. He’s been looking at different ways to get at teams so it’s extra special when something like that comes off in a game. It’s doubly pleasing.”

The fact Scotland’s two-goal lead didn’t last meant Levein’s hope of pairing two strikers for the closing half hour was not realised. Jordan Rhodes’ debut as a foil for Miller’s replacement, Craig Mackail-Smith, did not come till the 86th minute.

“I did want to bring him on earlier but we didn’t dominate as much as I’d have liked,” added Levein. “If it had stayed two-zero he would have been on earlier. I wanted to win the game first and foremost. I felt that, after we went two goals up, we were well on top and losing the goal was a setback. And of course Cyprus got an immediate lift from that and renewed their enthusiasm and energy.”

Levein also took time out in his post-match conference to point out why the poppy armbands worn by the players in respect of Remembrance Day ended up on the pitch within minutes of the kick-off.

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“The players had a problem with the Velcro attachment and spent a lot of time trying to get them fixed, but a lot of them didn’t actually hold together very well. I just want to explain that to people. They weren’t taking the armbands off for any other reason than they wouldn’t stay on. We were proud to wear the armbands tonight.”

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