Leeds United defender Liam Cooper admitted it had been a ‘frustrating’ week with Scotland following their disappointing 1-0 friendly defeat to Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.
A first-half deflected shot from Conor Bradley put Northern Ireland in front against the run of play, and despite having more than 80 per cent possession, Scotland could not find a way back as their winless run stretched to seven games to leave big questions over their Euro 2024 preparation.
Scotland certainly have a lot to think about going into the summer after a humbling week, having lost 4-0 to Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday. Cooper, though, feels now is not the time to start pointing fingers but to come together as they prepare for this summer’s tournament in Germany.
“It’s been a frustrating camp,” said Leeds stalwart Cooper. “Ideally you’d like to go in to May and June on the back of a successful camp but it wasn’t meant to be. We have to get back to ourselves ASAP.
“We didn’t get too high when we got out of the camp and now is not the time to turn on each other and dig each other out. We’ve got to get back to ourselves and work hard to be the team we know we can be.
“Northern Ireland sat in tonight and we’ve got to be prepared to be patient and break them down. I think we got a bit edgy tonight and in the final third we could have been a bit more patient and wait for openings to be there.
“We forced it at times. Those are all things we can improve on and I’m sure the manager knows exactly what we’re doing come May in preparation for the Euros. We’ve got to get our heads down and work hard.”
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