John Carver eyes victory over Spain after ‘disrespectful’ Hampden complaints

Scotland assistant coach John Carver admits getting another win over Spain would be all the sweeter given the “disrespectful” comments some of their opponents made in the wake of their Hampden defeat.

Carver was “agitated” by criticism from the likes of Manchester City midfielder Rodri after Scotland beat Spain 2-0 in March.

But the former Newcastle interim manager believes his players will not be distracted by the issue ahead of Thursday’s return fixture in Seville, in which Scotland can qualify for Euro 2024.

Spain captain Rodri claimed the way Scotland played was “rubbish” as he accused them of wasting time, provoking his team-mates and falling over, while debutant David Garcia argued the Hampden grass was too long.

Carver said: “I have got to be honest, I didn’t like it. I felt it was disrespectful. But it was their prerogative to say whatever they wanted to say. Whether they used that as an excuse, I don’t know.

“As far I was concerned, it agitated me and I’m sure it would have got to some of the players.

“But there’s a long time gone since then and it’s about being professional and having a clear head going into this game. So I don’t think it will be a distraction.

“Any win is sweet and you celebrate it for sure, but after what they said it would be nice to win.”

Spain have scored 16 goals in their subsequent three qualifiers and will be out to surpass Scotland’s 2-0 win to give themselves the best chance of topping the group.

Carver added: “I think they will be out to prove a point. A lot has changed since then, they had just brought in a new manager, they had changed quite a bit of the team.

“They are now more settled and have had a couple of great results and scored some goals.

“It’s a different type of game. They will have one eye on what happened at Hampden when we beat them, but they are professionals like we are and their minds will be on this game.”

Ready for the tests ahead