Scotland forward Steven Naismith hopes Sunday’s dramatic victory against Slovenia will help encourage the Tartan Army to fall back in love with the team.
Hampden was under half full for the World Cup qualifier with only 20,435 supporters turning up to see Gordon Strachan’s side in a match the manager had dubbed as a must-win fixture.
That disappointing attendance was a result of the apathy that had kicked in towards the team after an underwhelming start to the qualifying campaign.
A paltry crowd of 9,158 booed Scotland off the park after last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Canada and the jeers returned on Sunday when the Tartan Army voiced their approval when on-loan Fulham forward Chris Martin was brought on as a substitute with eight minutes to go.
Martin, however, had the last laugh, by netting the game’s winning goal two minutes from time and Naismith hopes the supporters will get right behind the team when England visit on June 10.
He said: “Hopefully, the Slovenia victory can get some supporters back with the team.
“People might have written us off and thought the campaign was just going to peter out but the result might change that.
“No one can blame anyone because the start of the campaign wasn’t good enough.
“It makes the job harder, whereas if we had put in some good performances, we would be sitting in a promising position.
“But we’re still in the mix and that’s what we need to keep doing.”
Scotland follow June’s Auld Enemy encounter with a trip to Lithuania on September 1 and a home match against Malta three days later.
Slovakia visit Hampden on October 5 before Strachan’s men end the campaign in Slovenia on October 8.
Naismith added: “The home games will be crucial and we need all the atmosphere we can get. I know we played Ireland in the last campaign at Celtic Park but that type of atmosphere is what we need.
“We need teams to come here and think: ‘Wow, we’re in a game here’. That will give us the best opportunity.
“We’ll go into the games believing we can win. Everyone who is there has to get behind the team for the full game because that will make a difference.
“People might think it’s just one more body but it really makes a difference.”
