Martinez Losa: Scotland can use Hampden energy for something special

Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa believes the Hampden crowd can make the difference in the World Cup qualifying campaign and hopes to deliver a thrill for the support against Hungary on Friday.

Martinez Losa enjoyed the perfect start to his time as manager with a 2-0 win in Hungary and a 7-1 defeat of Faroe Islands at the national stadium in the last international break.

This time around, Hungary visit Hampden and the Spaniard knows the expectation is on his side to continue their positive start.

Martinez Losa thinks that forging a bond with a noisy crowd can maximise the benefits of home advantage and looked at the reaction to the men’s team netting a last-gasp winner against Israel as an example of the type of moments he wants to see his side deliver.

He said: “The responsibility is ours to produce something special and to connect with people. I think we’ve given the first step to make people aware and say ‘yes, this is something really good’.

“We have to use the energy of the last Hampden Park with the men. It was absolutely incredible and we would love to replicate the scenario where we also can bring the fans to the same emotions and feelings.

“One goal can be the difference or one game that we don’t win. That last effort is going to come from our heart and for our heart we need the fans.

“We need that support. I think that’s a massive difference for a country like Scotland. This is one of our strong values and we have to take advantage if we can.”

Scotland face Group B powerhouses Ukraine and Spain next month but Martinez Losa didn’t feel there was extra pressure to get points in the bag before the more testing fixtures, insisting that any game in isolation could be an opportunity or a problem.

“Every game is important,” he said. “If we don’t get these points we will be thinking that we needed these points.

“If we get the points then we will be thinking how important the game is against Ukraine and Spain.

“I always say that we have to take it game by game. Every game will probably put us in a different mood, positive or negative.

“We are in a positive mood after scoring goals and doing good things, but we still think we can do much better.

“But I am also aware that performances are not built in one day and we can sometimes have a bad day, that doesn’t mean anything- hopefully it is not in this camp.

“But I like to respect every opponent. Every opponent will present a difficulty, every opponent will fight for three points, for one point, for one goal.

“I am sure Hungary, after losing two matches they will not be happy and come here with different plans and objectives.”