Sebastien Pocognoli determined to turn up the volume at Hampden

Sebastien Pocognoli is determined to experience a happy Hampden to set Scotland up for the European Championship qualifiers after experiencing defeat in his first two home matches.

Scotland fell to Switzerland and Slovenia last month while claiming four points on the road in the Nations League.

A dominant 2-0 victory in North Macedonia is Pocognoli’s only win so far and he is looking to replicate that type of performance against the same opposition in Glasgow on Friday.

“The idea is to make Hampden a difficult place to come,” the Belgian said. “It’s already like this, but I think we can put the volume one step higher and it’s up to us to do it.

“The way we want to play, we need intensity, and from that we can build a good game. We need to be ready from the first minute.

“The first win at home, for me, with the lads will be very important. If we can combine it with good football, it’s also very important, but we need a win also to have a good feeling to build on for the March camp.

“I always have big admiration for what the Tartan Army delivered in the last two tournaments. It’s very famous throughout Europe, all over the world, and also in Belgium. We are really impressed with the Scotland fans.

“I want to embrace this atmosphere, because I didn’t have a proper one (last time), and I hope we can do it against Macedonia.

“Many people are coming, it’s a nearly full stadium, and we want to deliver good body language, a good style of play to try to be exciting.”

Pocognoli has Scott McTominay, Kieran Tierney and Che Adams back from injury but has lost all three centre-backs that started in Skopje, with Stephen Welsh and Luis Binks dropping out of a squad that was already missing Scott McKenna.

Former Rangers and Hamburg defender David Bates was called up this week after helping Amedspor to an impressive start to the Turkish Super Lig season which has seen them win all six home games.

“I’ve followed him since the start of the season,” the Scotland head coach said. “We know all the Scottish footballers around the world, which ones we have to follow, and David is one of them.

“He’s also here because there are a lot of players who are not available for the defensive line, but he’s not there for nothing. He’s here because he’s performing well in Turkey, for a team who is second in the ranking in a tough competition.

“I know the coach (former Anderlecht manager Besnik Hasi) there as well, so I know he’s also demanding a lot of the players, so I can imagine in which spirit he trains every day.

“For this camp, also with his experience, it can help some aspect on the pitch.”