Scotland defender Charlie Mulgrew insists the national team is ready to silence the critics by defeating Slovenia on Sunday to get their World Cup qualifying campaign going again.
Gordon Strachan’s men are sitting fifth of six teams in their qualifying group with only four points gained from four matches.
A sense of apathy has contributed to poor ticket sales for tomorrow’s warm-up friendly with Canada at Easter Road ahead of Sunday’s Hampden showdown with Slovenia.
A failure to defeat the Slovenians could bring the curtain down on Strachan’s time in charge but Mulgrew, capped 24 times by his country, says the mood in the Scotland camp remains upbeat.
When asked about the feeling that the qualification campaign is already all but over, Mulgrew said: “That’s typical, people just want to be negative.
“They build it up and then they just want to get on the negative. That’s something we need to deal with.
“We just need to win our next game against Canada and after that we’ll deal with the game coming on Sunday. The most important thing is the game on Sunday.
“It’s a big game for us and we want to win it. We realise it’s important and if we can win we’ll be in a good position and that is our main focus.”
Mulgrew, who spent two years at Pittodrie with Aberdeen, joined English Championship strugglers Blackburn Rovers from Celtic at the beginning of the season.
The 31-year-old believes he has become a better player from his time in English football’s demanding second tier.
He said: “I’m really enjoying it and I feel more prepared now and that I’m a better, more experienced player. It’s a more demanding league. Every game is genuinely 50-50.
“Newcastle United and maybe Huddersfield Town, despite taking six points and two points from them respectively, are the two teams I’ve looked at and thought they are very good sides. But a lot of the games are even and it can go either way.
“At the time I moved a lot of people thought it wasn’t the right choice but I wanted to do it.
“I wanted to experience something different and at this stage of my career it was probably my last chance to go down south.
“Off the field everything has been great, on the field it’s been difficult with picking up results but I’ve never regretted my decision.
“I’m enjoying playing different teams at big stadiums and a whole new challenge.
“We’ve also picked up recently, so I’m enjoying it.
“People have always asked me about my favourite position throughout my career.
“I do prefer centre half or midfield but I’d like to play as long as I can and defence is probably my best chance to do that for a long time.
“I’m still young at 31 and I just want to play, be happy and help the team.
“It doesn’t matter what position I prefer or anyone else. It’s about what best helps the team.”
