Striker Che Adams believes concern will have seeped into the Republic of Ireland squad following Scotland’s emphatic defeat of Ukraine.
The Scots jumped to the top of UEFA Nations League Group B1 with an impressive 3-0 defeat of Ukraine at Hampden on Wednesday.
He reckons that result will have Republic of Ireland worried ahead of their group clash at Hampden on Saturday.
Adams believes there will now be fears in the Irish camp despite condemning Scotland to a chastening 3-0 Nations League defeat in June.
Southampton striker Adams admits there “are no excuses” for that dismal defeat in Dublin.
However he insists the revitalised Scots are fired up to gain revenge.
Adams said: “They will have seen that result against Ukraine and they will be worried.
“We have to put that result against Republic of Ireland right this weekend and show what we are about.
“We weren’t at it that day.
“There are no excuses.
“We owe Ireland now from the summer.
“It’s going to be a good game and I’m excited for it.”
The rewards for the group winners
Scotland are two points clear of second placed Ukraine in the race to top the group.
Winning the group would secure promotion to the A Leagues to face the elite of European football.
Crucially topping the group would also place Scotland in pot two for the Euro 2024 draw.
Group winners are also guaranteed a play-off spot for Euro 2024 should they fail to qualify for the tournament via the traditional route.
Scotland used the play-off path to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals, beating Serbia in the play-off final in November 2020.
Adams said: “Winning the group is everyone’s ambition.
“You could see that against Ukraine.
“We had to win and did that very well.
“The team are good now and we could have scored more against Ukraine.”
‘The manager wanted everyone to show what we could do’
Adams has scored four times for Southampton this season including a brace in a 2-1 away defeat of Leicester City.
The 26-year-old has netted five times in 20 appearances for Scotland.
He admits he should have added to that tally against Ukraine, having hit the bar.
Adams was replaced by Lyndon Dykes with 15 minutes remaining.
Dykes would go on to score a brace, both headers from Ryan Fraser corners.
Adams said: “Looking back, I definitely should have had one goal.
“Then Lyndon came on and scored two and that is just the way football is.
“He played very well.
“It was a top performance from everyone.
“We went in at half-time full of belief that we could win because we dominated the first-half.
“Then we went on to dominate the whole of the game.
“The manager wanted everyone to show what we could do, and we did that.”
Drive to put teams under pressure
Scotland had 24 shots against Ukraine, eight of them on target.
In contrast the Ukranians mustered just three attempts, none of them on goal.
It represents a major shift from June when Ukraine ended Scotland’s World Cup qualifying hopes with a 3-1 semi-final play off win.
Adams insists there can be no let up from the Scots in the remaining group games.
Scotland also play war-torn Ukraine at a neutral venue in Krakow, Poland on Tuesday.
Adams said: “We are good enough now to put teams under pressure.
“That is what the gaffer has told us to do.
“To bring more pressure to the opposition and we definitely did that.
“It is one of those that we have to take that performance into the rest of the games and hopefully we can get results.”
Cynical challenge on striker Adams
Adams was subjected to a cynical challenge when Ukrainian defender Valeriy Bondar wiped him out as he attempted to break in on goal.
Bondar made no attempt to play the ball but only received a yellow card.
On the challenge, Adams said: “I’m alright.
“All I know is that I was through on goal.
“The most important thing was winning and I thought we played very well.”
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