Three times the phrase escaped from the mouth of Andy Robertson within the space of three short, very un-Scottish minutes.
Three times, three minutes, and just three words.
“Within touching distance.”
It’s a quintessential Scottish trait to not just see the worst in every opportunity, but to actively seek it out. Top of the group, aye, but Georgia have a game in hand. Spain have two. Four wins from four? Well, yeah, but we’ve got three away games left. Cyprus may be a bit clammy in September.
All waves of doubt that would normally flow through the brain of your average Scotland fan like water being brushed off a Hampden pitch by a drookit ball kid.
Yet, even after a night that proves anything can happen in football, an evening when reality was suspended for 90-odd minutes, there was not a drop of self-doubt to be mopped up in the wake of Scotland’s latest triumph.
“It puts us within touching distance, we can’t deny that,” the Scotland captain, 29, told BBC Scotland after his side’s 2-0 win over Georgia.
“Twelve points from four games, we couldn’t have asked for a better start. We’re halfway through the campaign, we’re top of the group, the two people we are challenging with, we’re eight points clear of them with four games to go.
“We have to kick on now and believe we can qualify. We’re in pole position. We’re within touching distance.
“We’ll come back in September and we need to go away from home and get a good result. If we do that then I believe we’re nearly there.”
‘I think they were refusing to come out’
There was an urgency about Scotland, even on the longest of nights.
Callum McGregor roared the hosts at Hampden into a quick-fire lead. It would be more than 90 minutes before a competitive ball was kicked again.
Robertson was at the heart of the back and forth. The Liverpool left-back was part of the initial discussions with the referee before the players were taken in for the first time, while he was visibly frustrated by the reluctance of the Georgians, perhaps smelling an opportunity of a closed-doors game the following day, to show willing for the match to resume.
That hunger from Scotland is indicative of the heart that manager Steve Clarke has supercharged within them. His men wanted this game played, they wanted another three points they had every confidence would be theirs, they wanted to take that next step closer to Germany.
“We’re obviously hugely disappointed with what happened,” said Robertson. “We thank the ground staff and the ball boys chipping in to get that game on, the fans sticking with us as well. In the last 10 minutes we know the place is emptying out as they need to get trains home and we appreciate that.
“We kept coming out because we wanted the game to be played. We don’t want the season going any further by playing tomorrow or whatever, it wouldn’t have been ideal. People have plans or holidays to go on, it wouldn’t have been great.
“I think Georgia were refusing to come out at one point and then the pitch was playable. Thankfully it got on.”
‘I’m learning on the job’
It’s now coming up on five years since Robertson was first bestowed with the captain’s armband for his country by Alex McLeish. It was a tumultuous period for the whole national team back then; Clarke kept faith with his left-back after taking over as boss less than a year later.
Robertson scored the first goal of Clarke’s tenure and went on to help Scotland qualify for Euro 2020, but in this campaign, there has felt a shift in perception and greater importance of the Anfield full-back.
He has been a powerhouse this group stage for his nation and was the driving force behind both victories in the June international break. In Norway on Saturday, he stabilised a defence that kept his team in the game – and at Hampden, his thrust on the left overwhelmed the Georgians.
The defender made 12 entries in the opposition’s final third, more than any other Scotland player. He made 23 passes in the final third, second only to Callum McGregor. Robertson also had the second most touches and second most passes of any Scotland player.
“It comes down to age, it comes down to experience, it comes down to learning on the job,” he said.
“I got the captaincy relatively young. Did I make mistakes? Yeah, I maybe took too much on my shoulders when I first got it and tried to sort everything. You then sort of realise you can’t sort everything, you can only control what you’ve got.
“But I think we’re so much better off the field now. Credit to the staff in there, they’ve made it so much better and we’ve just built from strength to strength.”
