CALL TO ACTION! Skipper Robertson warns Scotland it's time to do their talking on the pitch

Andy Robertson has urged Scotland to do their talking on the pitch ahead of their crucial Euro 2024 clash with Switzerland on Wednesday night.

Having been tipped to make history by reaching the knock-out stages of a major tournament for the first time, the bubble burst for Steve Clarke’s side in a shattering 5-1 defeat to Germany in the opening game.

Captain Robertson was savaged and accused of talking ‘rubbish’ by ITV pundit Roy Keane afterwards, when he claimed the Scots had a solid game plan.

On Tuesday night, the Liverpool left-back claimed some ‘couldn’t wait’ to have a go but admitted the time has come for fewer words and more action as the Scots chase the four points they need to reach the last 16 for the first time ever.

‘I could sit and talk all night, but it won’t make a difference,’ said Robertson. ‘It’s easy to talk before or after a game, but not so easy to go out and do it.

‘That’s what we need to do - we need action.

‘A lot of people were critical, a lot of people from the outside probably couldn’t wait to dip in, that’s what they’re paid to do and we respect that.

‘All we know is we have to do a lot better on the pitch. We need to be confident, to play to our highest (level) and if do we can cause ANY team problems.’

An incandescent Keane hammered Robertson’s post-match interview, claiming: ‘It’s no good talking after the game, “we had a game plan” it’s rubbish. Andy Robertson is just rubbish coming out.

‘You knew before the game what was at stake, you’ll be angry tomorrow - no you should be angry all the time.

‘They’re talking about creating history, they’re creating history alright by playing as bad as that, letting their manager and supporters down. Football’s a physical game, they didn’t lay a glove on them.’

Switzerland defeated Hungary 3-1 in their opening game and defeat to Murat Yakin’s side would effectively end Scotland hopes of progress. In a game they simply can’t afford to lose, Robertson hopes to repay the faith of tens of thousands of Tartan Army foot soldiers braving incessant rain in Cologne last night.

‘If we get the result we want, then we can talk afterwards and it’ll be a much happier chat,’ he said.

‘There was a lot of hype surrounding us from our own country before the opening game, there was a lot of excitement. The support we got in Munich was among the best I’ve ever had in my career and now we owe them a result.

‘We have to get back to being ourselves. We haven’t been ourselves…well, we weren’t on Friday night, but we have to remember what we were good at it before when we went on the pitch, we have to get back to trusting ourselves and whoever’s next to us on the pitch.

‘You saw that in abundance in the qualifiers, we were full of belief, trust, we were going for every ball. Maybe on Friday we played with a little fear and that has to change.

‘We know and the whole country knows we should have done better. But we want to look forward now, not back. We want to show this tournament what Scotland is about and the best way to do that is to get a result.’

A point and a Germany win over Hungary would send the Scots into the final game on Sunday with a real chance of sealing a place in the last 16.

Robertson says playing for the point which would keep their hopes alive hasn’t been discussed

And manager Clarke believes it would be a risky strategy against the influential Granit Xhaka and co.

‘To go into the game thinking we only need a point is dangerous,’ he said. ‘So we’ll go there to win it and to be as positive as we can. Then we’ll see where that takes us.

‘But it’s more about making sure we perform as well as we can play. If we can do that we’ll be pretty confident that we can get something from the game.

‘I thought the Swiss were excellent against Hungary.

‘They were really good in the first half and then controlled the second half well.

‘When they needed the late goal to take a little bit of the pressure off they managed to do that as well.

‘They are a difficult opponent so I expect a difficult game. But for us, we need to regroup and go again.

‘It’s about doing better. I don’t want to put any labels on it. It’s about doing better and working better into the game.

‘We thought we were well prepared for Germany and obviously we weren’t.

‘So this time we don’t want to say too much and hopefully our actions on the pitch will show that we have prepared well. And a positive result would be lovely.’