Sebastien Pocognoli said there was a lot to build from a Goalless draw against Slovenia in Ljubljana despite not being able to win their first game as Scotland head coach
The 39-year-old Belgian, who replaced Steve Clarke in August after Scotland’s winless exit from World Cupsaw his side thwarted by an inspired performance from Jan Oblak in goal.
A sluggish opening on 45 minutes was only halted by Robbie Ure’s near-miss late in the half, the debutant cutting inside a McGinn pass and clipping the outside of the post.
Scotland came out transformed for the second half, dominating possession and creating several clear-cut chances that Oblak denied.
Oli McBurnie, back in style after five years in the international wilderness, presented himself with the clearest chance, rounding the Atletico Madrid keeper only to be blocked before he could shoot.
Oblak palmed away Billy Gilmour’s low shot and Kieron Bowie failed to convert when he was left alone in the box.
Pocognoli acknowledged the two very different halves his team had produced.
“I think we had two games in the same game but you can look at them both positively,” he told BBC Scotland.
“The first half was not what we expected in terms of structure. We were in between for the press, we were actually a bit surprised by the formation of Slovenia, but in the middle we sorted it out and you can see that the second half was much better.
“We produced what we wanted to show every minute, but in the first half we learned to be united, to defend the area, to be resistant and to have patience to change the game.
“We were also challenged with set pieces, after five minutes we had a lot of set pieces to defend, so that’s the positive way to look at the first half. It wasn’t always positive, but in the second half we had a ball game against a low block.
“So we had really good movement down the side, through the lines and we should have scored to be honest. But the counter-press was good, the high line of the defense was good, just because the position of the players was better. It’s a clean sheet, that’s also a positive. But we want to win. I think we can take it positively.”
