Scotland winger Shaun Maloney says it feels like the weight of the world is on the players’ shoulders heading into this week’s crucial World Cup double-header.
”I think pretty much most squads, after the decision that he took to take himself out of the selection process, would be pleased to see him back,” he said. ”When I played against him a couple of weeks ago he was very, very good so we’re glad that he’s back in the squad.
”Form-wise I’d say he was one of the best strikers in the Premiership right now. I think he’s got five out of six and the game he played against us he was outstanding not just his goal but his general play was very good.
”He’s certainly up there and he’s in great form at the moment.”
Whether or not the Sunderland striker will be welcomed back with open arms by his team-mates following the circumstances surrounding his departure remains to be seen, but Maloney doesn’t sense any problems on the horizon.
He continued: ”I don’t think anyone apart from him and the manager know exactly what went on and how it got to the stage of where he wasn’t playing but I don’t think we’re going to hold anything against him.
”Nothing’s been said and I don’t think it will be it’s happened in previous campaigns and I don’t think it’s been too much of an issue.
”Davie Weir was one where it was successful, and there have been others where it’s maybe not been quite as successful. But with he goals that he’s scoring and the level he’s scoring at, we don’t have many players like that at the moment so I think the players will be pleased to have him back.”
Scotland squad announcements have been difficult affairs for certain players in recent years and the former Celtic man can surely count himself in that category. Having been overlooked on occasion when many expected his inclusion, Maloney has had to temper his emotions over the years, set aside disappointment and go about earning his Scotland spot all over again.
Like a fine wine though, he reckons he has improved with age.
”It’s frustrating when you aren’t selected,” he admitted. ”I think everyone wants to play and the older you get you start to take these decisions in a different way.
”As a younger man, young in terms of your career, you can get overly frustrated with it but now if you are left out of the team you have to get over it to a certain degree. You just have to respect the decision the manager has made and the players that are playing.”
Failure to slay the Welsh dragon in Friday’s qualifier in Cardiff might all but end the country’s hopes of reaching a major finals for the first time in what will be 16 years by the time Rio rolls around meaning the stakes are higher than ever for Craig Levein’s men.
But while the Tartan Army will be pinning all their hopes on Maloney and company to get Scotland’s Group A campaign back on track, the Wigan man maintains the squad can cope with the pressure.
”Ever since I’ve been here it’s just been continually about the fact our last tournament was France ’98 and at the start of each campaign there’s this sort of nigh on desperation from not only the media but as a squad as well to qualify for a major tournament,” he said.
”It’s something we all want and I don’t think we’ll be short on effort to get there. It’s obviously going to be down to whether we’re good enough as a team and I guess we’ll find out pretty soon if we are.
”I think with the two draws that we’ve had to start with, a win on Friday would give us a massive bonus. If the result doesn’t go our way against Wales then it will make the midweek game all the tougher, although even if we win at the weekend the Belgium game is going to be very difficult. But the win would give us the confidence to go into that game and see if we could get some sort of result.”
Maloney continued: ”I don’t think we’re going to have an easy match in this group so we know we’ve got two difficult games coming up. I think our first game was a better result than the second game and it’s been a decent start but it’s obviously going to have to get a lot better if we are going to qualify.
”The Wales game is massively important for both teams and both teams are desperate for the win.”
Much has been made about Steven Fletcher’s return to the squad in the past week and Maloney is one of those happy to see him back in the blue of Scotland.
Continued…