Scotland under-21 coach Ricky Sbragia has urged his players to become more physical if they want to compete on the international stage.
The Scots face Northern Ireland tonight in a must-win encounter at Paisley as they try to keep hopes of making the European Championship finals alive.
Sbragia’s side lost 2-0 to Group 3 leaders France last week and the Scotland coach believes the scoreline flattered his side. The days of Scottish players compensating for the technical gulf in class with physical application are gone with Sbragia convinced the Scots are now lagging behind physically as well as technically.
He said: “We knew technically France were very good and we have to close that gulf. They have players in the Champions League with PSG and others.
“It will take time to bridge the gap, but we’d be kidding ourselves to say we’re at the same level as them. But the physical side is important, it brings power and speed. Serbia and Israel were the same, they were big and strong.
“There’s no doubt the physical side of it is very important, players have to develop their bodies.”
Former Manchester United and Scotland forward Brian McClair is now in charge of Scotland’s SFA’s performance strategy and is working with Scottish clubs to try to meet the challenge. He said: “It is an area that has to be worked on and the players are working on it, but maybe some of the countries are ahead of us at the moment. We have to look at the level countries such as France are at and aspire to get closer to them.”
