Andy Robertson Admits He Has Not Been Good Enough as Scotland Captain

Scotland left back Andy Robertson has admitted he has not been good enough as team captain, after attracting plenty of criticism from fans for his underwhelming performances with the national team.

With Liverpool, Robertson has established himself as one of the finest left backs around at club level, but he has struggled to replicate that form with Scotland. He was held responsible by many fans for their 2-1 defeat to Russia on Friday, which has left Scotland well behind in the race for qualification for Euro 2020.

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Speaking to BBC Sport, Robertson confessed that he has not been good enough as Scotland captain, although that is not due to his perceived lack of interest in international football.

The Liverpool man said: "Being criticised, rightly or wrongly, it's maybe stronger now that I'm captain. But these are things I'm made for. If people criticise me, it's fine. I'd prefer they didn't because it means I've put in a good performance, but sometimes that doesn't always go your way.

"Some games as captain I've not been good enough, some I have been, but that's me to look at my own performance. That's what I've looked at over the last few games.

"I don't like getting beat anyway, but on Friday I maybe dwelled on it longer than usual. I've learned a lot. Good things and bad things.

"I said a year ago what a big honour it was, that's not changed, I'm delighted to be the captain of this country, I love doing it and I hope the lads think I'm doing a good job. There's also negatives that come along with it that I need to deal with and it's about learning how to deal with them. I think I'm getting better at that.

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"The game still hurts. We were trying so hard to open this group up and get back on level terms with Russia, which was our aim. Now to be six points behind them is tough, but we need to go again because we've got no other option.

"There's no point in lying to each other. I believe we didn't perform to our full potential and, if we did, I believe we would have got a result. All the lads have been honest with each other and that can only be healthy.

"We did show we cared because we were desperate, probably too desperate for the result. That's why we started panicking in our decisions, but we now need to show bravery."