Scotland’s Assistant Coach John Carver Believes Team is Closing Gap on Top Sides and Can Still Finish Second in Nations League Group

Assistant coach John Carver believes Scotland retains the possibility of securing second place in their Nations League group. The upcoming match is: Nations League: Scotland v Croatia Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Friday, 15 November Time: 19:45 GMT Coverage: Listen live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland and follow live updates on the BBC Sport website & app John Carver, the assistant head coach, asserts that Scotland is diminishing the performance gap with leading international teams and can still achieve a second-place finish in their Nations League group, even after an eight-match streak without a victory. He also considers the comeback of crucial players from injury to be “quite refreshing” and potentially “can be quite encouraging” as the team gets ready to welcome Croatia on Friday, prior to wrapping up their campaign in Poland on Monday. Scotland currently occupies the last position in Group A1, having accumulated only one point from their recent 0-0 home draw against Portugal. They are six points behind Croatia and three points behind Poland. Carver stated, “We have two games to go and it’s still all to play for, which is a good thing. I think we can be encouraged by the performances.” He added, “We should be sitting here with more points, so there’s a confidence in the group. If results go our way and, for example, we win both games, we might have a chance of finishing second.” Carver reflected that Scotland “were close to getting something in Croatia as well” before their 2-1 defeat and confirmed they are not approaching the upcoming match “with fear,” despite acknowledging their opponent as “a top side.” He remarked, “I think we are closing the gap on these teams and the results have been quite tight and showed that. But now we need to go that step further. It is all well and good getting good performances and getting a draw with Portugal, but it’s time for a win. Normally about this time of year, our form has been good in the past and the important thing is we get something out of the first game and see where it takes us.” Carver indicated that his involvement in the top division of the Nations League has demonstrated that converting scarce opportunities, or conversely, preventing them, can determine the outcome between victory and loss. Consequently, the injury-related absence of Che Adams is considered “a blow,” especially considering the striker’s confident beginning with Torino in Italy. Nevertheless, Carver emphasized: “With Jack Hendry back, with John McGinn back and Stuart Armstrong back, it just shows how competitive the squad is when you think of how well, I thought, we did in the last two camps.” He continued, “We had a lot of different faces and they all did well – so guys coming in who have been with us for a long time, with more caps, can be encouraging. So quite refreshing.”