Bullish Scotland boss remains confident of Euro qualification as he reveals player who battled through illness

Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa insists the 0-0 draw with Finland was a positive result despite their underwhelming performance in the first leg of the Euro 2025 play off at Easter Road.

On a night where his side never really got themselves going, the best opportunities fell to the visitors in the capital, meaning it will be Finland boss Marko Saloranta who leaves Edinburgh the more frustrated of the two managers. However, the 48-year-old remains confident his team can complete the job on Tuesday.

“From the fan’s perspective, it was not the nicest game to watch,” he admitted. “Not conceding a goal is great. Probably, obviously, for both teams ahead of the second leg. It was a game of duels, and a lot of tactical situations, like shape. Both teams in some moments played direct. But I am confident [Scotland can win], yes, we only need one goal.

Scotland struggled to a 0-0 draw against Finland at Waster Road. Cr: SNS Group. | SNS Group

“In my opinion, we will be better on the ball and a little bit more relaxed. Sometimes games are like that, you have to stay in the game and stay concentrated. I feel we managed to suffer together well in certain moments. There were moments when Finland were suffering too.

“We need to believe. We need to keep our defensive work ethic that we have had for the last seven games. For both team’s there was pressure, the last minutes are obviously important as you don’t want to lose the last game. Finland probably think it’s a good result, and they can go back home with an opportunity. But we think it’s a good result as we have not lost the game, and we know we are only going to need one goal.”

The Spaniard, who made three early changes at Easter Road, revealed his decision to take off top scorer Martha Thomas was due to the Tottenham Hotspur striker suffering with illness during the week.

“Martha has been sick,” explained Martinez Losa. “She trained only yesterday. Emma (Watson) had been flying in training. A different player, but we were already preparing for her to play as a number nine. But we had a chat with Martha and we agreed she would start, she felt ready.

“There’s no question about what Martha can bring to the team, but we knew this was going to be an uncomfortable game. She was ready but had not been training two or three days before the game, so naturally 45 minutes more were going to be a challenge.”

Scotland head to Helsinki this Tuesday in their Euro 2025 second-leg playoff, with kick-off scheduled for 5.15pm.