Scotland star admits Hampden boos 'understandable' but friendly results no reason to panic

Ryan Christie remaining positive despite defeats to Netherlands and Northern Ireland

Scotland may be resembling a Formula One car that won a race at a canter before losing all control of its brakes and steering but Ryan Christie insists any panic is premature.

Since qualifying for the European Championships with comparative ease, Steve Clarke’s side have lost their sense of timing and direction. Tuesday night’s defeat to Northern Ireland marked a seventh game in succession without a victory and the Hampden crowd – lustily cheering a famous win over Spain just a year ago – wasn’t slow to voice its disapproval.

Christie understands why but insisted that losing friendlies will matter little in the long run, promising that the team will be back on track come the summer.

Scotland's Ryan Christie in action during the 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland at Hampden on Tuesday. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

“After the qualification route that we’ve just had, I can’t remember the last time we had a bad night at Hampden,” said the Bournemouth forward. “It’s been amazing over the last few years.

“You start getting used to that. So this was maybe a gentle reminder that it takes a performance when teams come here to put them away. It’s obviously understandable where the frustration comes from. It’s been a while since we’ve not scored a goal at Hampden.

“But we go into the summer still full of confidence and hopefully in the send-off game at Hampden we can put a good performance and result together. The good thing is that these games didn’t really mean anything. It’s not like we were going into a play-off game on Tuesday night.

“We’ve got a few things that we can definitely work on going into the Euros but when it rolls around I’m sure that everyone will be ready.”

Scotland round off their preparations by playing Gibraltar in Portugal before a Hampden send-off against Finland that Christie expects will be more positive than the other night.

“We play Gibraltar then we’ve got the game back at Hampden which will be nice to play in front of the fans before we head out to Germany,” he added. “Hopefully everyone goes back to their clubs and ends the season well, then we’ll look forward to hopefully a good summer.”