Plenty of positives for Pocognoli as Scotland debut ends in goalless draw

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Sebastien Pocognoli said there were plenty of positives from his first match in charge of Scotland as they began their Nations League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Slovenia.

Pocognoli, sitting in the Scotland dugout for the first time since replacing Steve Clarke, watched on as his side overcame a tepid first-half display to claim a point away from home.

Andraz Sporar thought he had given Slovenia an eighth-minute lead when he crashed an effort in off the post, but the goal was ruled out for an offside against Danijel Sturm. 

The Slovenia number nine then diverted an attempt just wide of the right post, with debutant Robbie Ure seeing his left-footed strike hit the post just before the break. 

From there, the visitors dominated, and they should have gone in front when Oli McBurnie burst into the area, but he was unable to take the ball around Jan Oblak. 

Aaron Hickey flicked a header from a corner just wide before substitute Kieron Bowie saw his shot from a tight angle smothered by Oblak as Scotland continued to probe. 

McBurnie’s header from point-blank range was repelled by the goalkeeper, but the best chance fell to Bowie late on. However, he scuffed his shot wide of the right post from close range.

Scotland had 17 shots against Slovenia, their most attempts in a match without scoring since June 2021 (19 shots against Czechia), but Pocognoli remained upbeat. 

“I think we had two games in the same game, but you can analyse it in a positive way,” Pocognoli said. “The first half was not what we expected in terms of structure.

“We were in between for the press. We were a bit surprised about the formation of Slovenia, but at half-time we fixed this, 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 stick together, to defend the box, to be resilient and to be patient to change the game.

“We were also challenged about set-pieces. After five minutes, we had many set-pieces to defend on, so that’s the positive way to look at the first half.

It ends honours-even in Ljubljana.#SVNSCO pic.twitter.com/WuiBZnrLvi

— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 26, 2026

“It was not always positive, but in the second half we had a game on the ball against a low block.

“So we had a lot of good movement through the side, through the lines, and we should have scored, to be honest, but the counter-press was good, the high [line] of the defence was good, just because the position of the players was better.

“Clean sheet, that’s also positive, but we want to win, but I think we can take this positively.”

Scotland are also now unbeaten in three consecutive away games in the Nations League for the first time (W2 D1), though they may feel they were deserving of all three points. 

They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.9, with five of their 17 attempts on target, compared to Slovenia’s tally of 0.5 from four shots. 

However, Scotland failed to score in three competitive matches in a row for the first time since October 2004, something Billy Gilmour said must improve moving forward. 

“Yeah, the two halves were totally different,” Gilmour said. “I think in the first half we were still getting to grips with the situations off the ball and on the ball, but the second half was a good performance.

“Obviously, you need to score. We’ve had great chances. We never took them, but it’s definitely something to build on. I mean, we’re walking off gutted that we never scored, but in the second half it was really good.

“We came out in the second half, we were right at it, we stayed up there, we were putting pressure on them, creating chances, and the final part just never came.

“Of course, we’re disappointed. We created enough chances to maybe take the game, but yeah, we came off having given it all.”

Women’s Football

‘Bring it on’ – Bright sets sights on glory after Chelsea’s Champions League comeback

Premier League News

‘Best is yet to come’ for Fulham, says Silva

UEFA Conference League News

‘Chelsea fans have to trust us’ – Maresca issues rallying cry to Blues’ faithful

UEFA Conference League News

‘Chelsea are back’ if they win Europa Conference League, Maresca insists

Nations League

‘Every Portugal player’ wants to see Ronaldo win World Cup – Dalot

Premier League News

‘Every point is expensive’ in the Premier League, says Iraola

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.