Boss George Burley sees positives in Macedonian defeat

Sep 7 2008 Gordon Waddell In Skopje

GEORGE BURLEY watched the World Cup campaign get off to a disastrous start in Macedonia - then insisted his side were "outstanding".

The Scotland manager claimed his players deserved at least a draw after their second-half display.

And he reckons only bad luck - and a poor decision by the ref when James McFadden was upended in the box - stopped them getting it.

Scotland have only qualified for a major finals after losing their opening fixture in qualifying once - against Czechoslovakia before Argentina '78.

And Burley's men must emulate that now - starting with Wednesday's now must-win game in Iceland.

Macedonia's clincher came in just five minutes through striker Ilcho Naumoski. Burley was angry at the quick loss but delighted with how his team reacted after the break.

He said: "Naturally I'm disappointed to lose and to have conceded a goal so early. It's not what we wanted and it gave Macedonia a lift.

"It was a well struck shot for the free-kick and they followed it in well.

"We would have preferred to have started better. We were too deep and stepped off them too much. I wanted the players to push up a bit.

"We took time to adjust but eventually got going. In the second half things were better and we were outstanding. The way we passed and put the munder pressure was pleasing.

"The players could not have done any more. We should also have had a penalty when McFadden was fouled. But you do not get every decision and the referee performed well."

When challenged about using the word outstanding on the back of a defeat without a goal scored, Burley said: "Sometimes you don't always get what you deserve from a game, don't get the breaks.

"You can still be outstanding without winning. I'm disappointed to leave with not even a point for our efforts. We deserved at least a point."

Burley also remains confident Scotland can qualify for the World Cup in South Africa.

He said: "I take encouragement from the way we played in the second half and we have to take that into the game on Wednesday night against Iceland.

"Hopefully we will get a more positive result out there. Our aim is to qualify and we will still try to do that. Three of our last games in the section are at home, we must not forget that."

Many players looked uncomfortable in the sizzling heat. Burley said: "It was hot and we knew it would be. I'm not going to make excuses. What we must look to do is be positive. We want to get to the 2010 World Cup Finals.

"Losing our first game doesn't make that target any easier but we will remain positive."

Scotland flew straight back after the game and returned to their Loch Lomond base last night.

They will go through a light training session today and then study Iceland in detail before flying to Reykjavik on Tuesday. Burley has injury concerns over skipper Stephen McManus and right-back Graham Alexander

He said: "Graham has a thigh knock and Stephen has an ankle knock.

"We'll see how they are over the next day or so and give them every chance to fully recover. I want to have all my players available for Wednesday because it's a vital game and we need our strongest team."