Scotland midfielder John McGinn says the national team need to be more clinical if they’re to have any chance at Euro 2020.
The Scots lost their Group D opener to the Czech Republic 2-0, going down to a double from Patrik Schick – including a strike from beyond the halfway line.
Steve Clarke’s men had plenty of chances in the game, but the ball was either saved or deflected wide or over on each occasion.
McGinn thinks Scotland played well enough in their first major tournament game for 23 years, bar two poor defensive moments.
He praised the Czechs for capitalising on those mistakes, while saying the Dark Blues need to show the same quality against England at Wembley on Friday.
McGinn said: “We got beat so we’re disappointed. I thought we played pretty well first half without threatening too much, but we got in behind them.
“The first goal’s a poor one to lose. Brilliant header, but from our point of view we’re extremely disappointed with it.
“You don’t want to lose a goal from a set-play or second phase of it.
“The second one’s a brilliant strike, but again we could do better.
“We can sit here and say we played alright, the 2-0 scoreline probably flatters them a wee bit. But they found the quality in the right moments and we need to find that on Friday.
“We can either sulk about or go to Friday and hopefully get a better result.”
The Aston Villa man added: “At a major tournament, you need to show your quality.
“If you want to compete at a major tournament, you need to take your chances.”