Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli insists the 3-0 Nations League defeat to Switzerland on his Hampden debut will make his team better in the future. The Belgian's first home game ended in a heavy loss, shaped by defender Jack Hendry's red card after just 12 minutes.
Red card derails Scotland's game plan
After Hendry's dismissal, Scotland had to settle for second best as World Cup quarter-finalists Switzerland won comfortably. Goals from Ricardo Rodriguez — from the free-kick conceded by Hendry — then Nico Elvedi and Zeki Amdouni in the second half condemned Pocognoli to a heavy defeat.
Pocognoli said: "The red card for Jack is all of our red card. We stay together. We put this moment in our DNA today and hopefully it can be helpful for the future. It was a frustrating night. I don't have a lot to say about the game."
"We can't analyse the game because we had 80% with ten men. We were punished from the free kick so probably the worst situation we could have. We had started quite aggressively and on the front foot. But after eight minutes, the game-plan had to be put to the side."
Players' attitude praised despite defeat
Pocognoli couldn't fault the effort of his players against the 14th best ranked team in the world. They battled valiantly but were fighting a losing battle after going behind and losing a man so early on.
He said: "I watched the attitude of the players, I wanted to see if anyone dropped and that did not happen. I have nothing bad to say about the team. They did their best. With 10 men, naturally given the quality of Switzerland, we were more about defending."
"But the effort with one man less was there, the way that they communicated, fought and tried to close the passing down. They were resilient in that moment and hopefully it can help us to be stronger."
Frustration over first goal incident
Pocognoli was disappointed with the incident which led to Switzerland's first goal. Hendry upended Dan Ndoye who was clean through on goal and initially the Serbian referee gave a penalty and a yellow card. That was changed to a free-kick and a sending off — before Rodriguez made it 1-0 with a brilliant strike.
Pocognoli would have preferred to give away a spot kick instead of a man. He said: "In all of the actions (at first goal), I expect better because Switzerland actually gave a really simple ball away at the start because of how we pressed. It was a transition moment for us and afterwards we conceded. It was 60m straight sprint against a really good sprinter. If it was a penalty, maybe we can stay with 11 men and change the game."
"It's very frustrating. I had a warm welcome and that made me a little bit sad because we wanted to give something back and we couldn't. You want to give some direction about where we want to go and we didn't have the chance to show that."
North Macedonia clash ahead
After failing to win any of their first two Nations League fixtures, Scotland must now try to pick up three points against North Macedonia, who lost their opening two games. The team plays in Skopje on Saturday, desperate for a Nations League victory and a first goal of the new manager's reign.
Pocognoli said: "It's important to have a result to give a boost to the staff, not only for me but all the people who work so hard. Also for the players. We had a good second half in Slovenia but we need a good performance in Macedonia and the result is important."
