Lewis Ferguson has warned that Scotland can ill-afford to go into another tournament on the back of a string of poor results in build-up matches.
Saturday’s defeat against Japan came with less than 11 weeks to go before the World Cup opener against Haiti in Boston.
After qualifying in style for Euro 2024, Steve Clarke’s players lost their momentum through a series of underwhelming friendlies against the likes of Northern Ireland and Finland.
Scotland face the Ivory Coast in Liverpool tomorrow and Curacao at Hampden on May 30, with a friendly against Venezuela in New Jersey pencilled in for June 6.
Bologna midfielder Ferguson feels it’s imperative that the side use those matches to go on to the real stuff feeling as good about themselves as possible.
‘It’s big,’ he said. ‘You want to build as much momentum as you possibly can going into the tournament. When you get to the tournament, momentum plays such a big part. We’ll look to do that.
Lewis Ferguson played the entire 90 minutes but was unable to help Scotland click into gear
Junya Ito celebrates his 84th-minute goal that left fans at Hampden fearful for the summer
‘We’ll rest and recover now. We’ll look at some of the things that we can improve on and we’ll take that into Tuesday night and hopefully get a better result.
‘I think it is important to get results and get performances so you have that good feeling when we get to America.
‘We faced at top side on Saturday. In recent tournaments, they’ve gone really far. In the end, we’re just disappointed to lose it.’
While Clarke’s side weren’t cut open by a talented Japanese side, they failed to create much in the final third.
Ferguson feels it’s imperative that the side show more attacking intent when they walk out at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium to face an Ivory Coast team who beat South Korea 4-0 at the weekend.
‘We spoke about that at half-time, just about taking a wee bit more risks with the ball,’ he reflected. ‘We were maybe a little bit safe.
‘We did have a couple of chances. Big Scotty (McTominay) early on in the game, and then the second half Robbo (Andy Robertson) and Hirsty (George Hirst) had a couple of chances. But probably we could have taken a wee bit more risk.
‘They were also good defensively as well. Their press was really good and put you under pressure, so they made it really difficult.’
Like Japan, the Ivory Coast are also finalising their preparations for the summer as they look to pit their wits against Germany, Curacao and Ecuador.
Ferguson feels the experience of facing such a variety of opponents will stand the squad in good stead once they get to the USA.
‘Aye, really important,’ he offered. ‘They (Japan) have been to the last I don’t know how many World Cups, and they’ve gone far in them.
‘They’re a really highly ranked team, well-respected. They’ve obviously got good experience of going past the group stages in these competitions.
‘It’s good to come up against these teams. We’ll learn from it. We’ll build on this.’
While Clarke and his players are preparing to savour the highlight of their careers, Ferguson insisted that they will remain focused on putting on the best performances they’re capable of.
Ferguson earns a handshake from Scotland boss Steve Clarke after a frustrating 90 minutes
‘The fans are there to go and party and enjoy the experience,’ he stated. ‘We’re there to work. We’re there to go and do our job.
‘Obviously, we’re going to enjoy everything that comes with the experience, but it’s going to be difficult.
‘We’re in a group with some really tough teams, so everyone’s all looking forward to it. But there’s a lot of work to do from now until the summer.’
Acutely aware that Scotland have never made it out of the group stage of a major tournament, Ferguson is adamant that the squad won’t be content just to make up the numbers.
‘Of course, that’s probably the story of a footballer,’ he said. ‘You can get that taste of success, but you always want to kick on and go one step further.
‘That will certainly be our mindset.’
