Scotland midfielder Shaun Maloney feels their dominant performance against Georgia is further evidence of how much more comfortable they are in possession under Gordon Strachan.
It was a Georgia own-goal that gave Scotland the 1-0 win in their opening home European championship qualifier but the scoreline did not reflect the hosts’ superiority, particularly in the first half.
Although Georgia improved after the break, Scotland created far more opportunities and would have been more comfortable had they been clinical in the final third. Steven Naismith missed two good chances and James Morrison forced a good late save.
Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall did not have a save to make, although Georgia substitute Irakli Dzaria missed the target from 18 yards when presented with a good chance in the final 15 minutes.
For Maloney, who was born in Malaysia but raised in Aberdeen, the display showed Scotland are a team continuing to grow in confidence, with a further test to come tomorrow when it takes on a Poland side fresh from victory against world champions Germany.
Maloney, whose 27th-minute drive eventually went in off Akaki Khubutia, said: “It’s something we are not really known for, a nation that has a higher pass retention and more possession than the other team. But we are slowly trying to change that.
“We are trying to change it throughout the age groups but the most important thing is the first team and the manager has been speaking about it for the last 12 months or so. On Saturday it probably came to fruition but I think it will be a completely different game in Poland. I don’t think we will have as much of the ball as that, but it was certainly enjoyable.
“In the last 10 minutes we could have kept the ball a bit better and maybe not attacked every time we got it and seen the game out a little bit more comfortably. But I’m nit-picking. We have got to be pretty impressed with the first 70 minutes.”
Scotland’s most recent qualifying campaign, for the Brazil World Cup, was undermined by a slow start when home draws against Serbia and Macedonia put pressure on them and led to calls for manager Craig Levein to be sacked. Levein survived for two more games but they were defeats in Wales and Belgium, which left Strachan with a massive task.
Maloney added: “Getting a home win was so important. We saw it out. It takes a little bit of pressure off us. The home games come with pressure from the supporters and the expectations of trying to win the home game will transfer to Poland. We’ll be tactically different.”
Scotland have already won in Warsaw this year – Scott Brown netting the only goal in a March friendly.