Pocognoli has no concerns over lack of Scots goals

Scotland trained at Hampden on Monday morning [SNS] Sebastien Pocognoli does not believe "there's any concerns" around a lack of goals as Scotland prepare for his first home match in charge against Switzerland on Tuesday. In his debut as their manager on Saturday, a goalless Nations League draw in Slovenia was their third successive match without a goal. "It was one game, some games you score, some games you are unlucky," said the Belgian. "I don't think there's any concerns from my side to score goals because we have good strikers. It's not only the strikers but we are creating chances from many positions. "Let's say we score tomorrow, I hope, and we can open another topic. "I really hope we can start strong in the game." Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson, who played the 90 minutes in Ljubljana, echoed his national head coach's thoughts. "On another day we score two or three," he said of Saturday's encounter. "The strikers will be disappointed but I think we'd be more worried as a group if we weren't creating those chances." From turgid to thrusting - mixed start for new Scotland Why does Robbie Ure have Robbie Ure on his Scotland shirt? World Cup quarter-finalists Switzerland opened their campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory away to North Macedonia. They are ranked 14th by Fifa - 28 places above Scotland - and the teams drew 1-1 at Euro 2024, while their last meeting at Hampden was a 3-1 friendly win for the visitors 20 years ago. Pocognoli hoped Scotland could use the Slovenia match as "like a training session" for the visit of Murat Yakin's side. When asked about his objectives for Tuesday, he added: "To play 90 minutes like we finished the game in Slovenia. "The idea will be always and certainly at home to try to take the control of the game as much as possible. "It will be a special moment, first time at home. I'm really looking forward for that moment since I've been appointed. As a new gaffer, that was really the date that was in my schedule that I want to experience." Billy Gilmour returned with a player-of-the-match display against Slovenia after missing the World Cup through injury. Ferguson, who experienced the same anguish for Euro 2024, believed the two friends have what it takes to form a long-term midfield partnership. "It's great to have him back," said Ferguson. "We work off each other really well, two completely different profiles and it suits us both. We saw that in the game. "We bring different things to the pitch and I thought it worked." Team news Asked about possible team changes, with two more fixtures in this block of games, Pocognoli talked of "experimentation". The Belgian added: "We try to find a balance to get results but also to see different approaches on the pitch. The idea is to have the most information after the camp, to use in the future." Napoli star Scott McTominay is missing for Scotland as he recovers from a minor heart procedure, while Lawrence Shankland and Che Adams are injured and Kieran Tierney was a late withdrawal, along with Kenny McLean. Forwards James Wilson and Findlay Curtis were released from a larger than usual squad last week to play in Wednesday's under-21 game against Azerbaijan. Switzerland beat North Macedonia without the vastly experienced duo of Granit Xhaka and Breel Embolo , who will play no part in this run of matches.