Scotland will need to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to the Republic Of Ireland when they travel to Armenia this week.
Steve Clarke’s side have endured a difficult few weeks after the Tartan Army missed out on a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Scotland bounced back in their opening Nations League game with a routine victory in the reverse fixture with Armenia.
But they were then trounced 3-0 by Ireland on Saturday and Clarke will need to galvanise his squad to close the three-point gap on leaders Ukraine.
Armenia v Scotland: talkSPORT commentary
This Nations League clash will take place on Tuesday, June 14.
talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage of the showdown at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium which will kick-off at 5pm.
Commentary will come from Alex Crook and former Scotland defender Steven Pressley.
talkSPORT 2 will then broadcast Wales’ away fixture against the Netherlands immediately following this one.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Armenia v Scotland: Team news
The hosts may be without Artak Dashyan after he was forced off with an injury during the latter stages of the 3-0 defeat against Ukraine.
As for Scotland, captain Andy Robertson may finally be given a rest following an exhausting season with Liverpool.
Aaron Hicky could be drafted in as his replacement, with Kieran Tierney still out injured.
Armenia v Scotland: What has been said?
Scotland boss Steve Clarke: “We have to win there.
“It’s that simple now and it might be an ugly one or might be a pretty one – but we need to win. ‘Must wins’ are not really in my vocabulary. But we have to bounce back from what’s been another disappointment.
“For me, the biggest thing is that we had disappointment against Ukraine, and then did OK, and then it’s disappointment again.
“I have to analyse that and find out why that happened.
“I felt the game last Wednesday was a good game for the players because they were able to dominate possession.
“But Ireland got about us and we couldn’t handle it for some reason.
“So that’s what I need to go away and look at.
“The result and the performance, nobody could see it coming.”
Armenia v Scotland: Match stats
- No Scotland player has been involved in more UEFA Nations League goals than Ryan Christie (5 – 2 goals, 3 assists). However, the 27-year-old has gone 774 minutes since his last goal involvement for the national team; the assist for John McGinn’s 85th minute equaliser against Austria in March 2021.
- Only Henrikh Mkhitaryan (6) has been involved in more goals for Armenia in the UEFA Nations League than Tigran Barseghyan (5 – 2 goals, 3 assists), with three of their last seven goals in the competition coming via assists from Barseghyan.
- Armenia have lost consecutive UEFA Nations League games, after a run of just one defeat in 10 games in the competition (W6 D3).
- After losing just one of their first eight UEFA Nations League games (W6 D1), Scotland have now lost three of their last four in the competition (W1).
- Scotland have lost two of their last three competitive matches (W1), as many as they had in their previous nine (W6 D1).
- Armenia have won five of their six home matches in the UEFA Nations League (L1), keeping a clean sheet in their last four at home. Indeed, they haven’t conceded a goal in their last 400 minutes of Nations League football on home soil since a Joseph Chipolina penalty for Gibraltar in October 2018.
- Following their 2-0 win over Armenia at Hampden Park earlier this month in the UEFA Nations League, Scotland are looking to win home and away against a nation in the competition for a third time, also doing so against Albania in 2018 and the Czech Republic in 2020.
- This is only the second ever meeting between Armenia and Scotland, with the other coming earlier this month in the UEFA Nations League, a 2-0 win for the Scots.
Source: Talk Sport