Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli insisted his side remain on track despite falling to a tame home defeat against Slovenia at Hampden Park.
Ryan Christie had given the hosts a half-time lead before second-half goals from Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm turned the UEFA Nations League fixture around for the visitors.
The result leaves Scotland three points behind Slovenia in their group with just two matches remaining, putting their hopes of securing a pot two seeding for the Euro 2028 qualification draw in severe jeopardy.
Pocognoli assessment of performance
Pocognoli has now managed four matches since taking over as national team head coach following the departure of Steve Clarke, but the Belgian has collected just four points so far in the Nations League.
The defeat to Slovenia marked Pocognoli's second loss at Hampden Park, with Scotland having conceded five goals across their two home fixtures under his management.
Speaking after the match, Pocognoli admitted that his team failed to meet expectations both in possession and in defensive organization.
"The assessment is trying to be objective about the game," Pocognoli said. "I think we played not the game that we wanted to deliver. I think we were not at the level that we expected to be on the ball, but also off the ball."
"We have a disappointment feeling, 100 per cent," he added. "On the other side, we look back to what we delivered to the camp, which can give some strong foundation for the future. But today we just have to analyse what the next camp can or has to improve."
Pocognoli acknowledged that Slovenia deserved the victory, stating that Scotland did not do enough to earn a better result on the night.
"Today I don't think we deserve to get more than what we got," he admitted. "Slovenia played a good game and we were not at the level."
Defensive struggles and tactical process
Despite the setback, Pocognoli maintained that the overall four-game international camp provided positive building blocks for the national team's long-term progression.
"I think they are on track," Pocognoli said when asked if the camp had been a success. "The players delivered a great camp. Maybe on the ranking aspect, especially with the game today, we are disappointed. But the job that we delivered with the staff, with the players and some moments during the four games was positive."
He pointed to the contrasting performance in Saturday's victory over North Macedonia as evidence of what the squad can achieve when executing the game plan effectively.
"But today was not what we expected," he explained. "We have the objective that we need to improve on many things. Like I said yesterday, the Macedonia game was good. But today we didn't show enough."
Pocognoli expressed frustration over his team's lack of composure and physical intensity during key moments of the contest.
"On the ball we were not clever enough," he noted. "We were far from strong enough in the duels. It's a process about being brave, trying to defend forward and we were not compact in our defensive shape."
"The reality is each game teaches us some information," Pocognoli added. "We will try to go through the process we want and learn from this one and do better in the next one."
Andy Robertson reaction and milestone
Scotland captain Andy Robertson delivered a blunt appraisal of the team's display, expressing anger at how easily Slovenia took control of the second half.
Prior to kick-off at Hampden Park, Robertson was honored in a pre-match presentation by the Scottish Football Association, receiving a ceremonial shirt from former Scotland managers Gordon Strachan, Alex McLeish, and Steve Clarke alongside Pocognoli.
However, the milestone presentation was overshadowed by the second-half collapse, leaving the team captain dismayed by the final outcome.
"Not good enough," Robertson said. "The whole team on the pitch, I don't think it was a good performance at all. We didn't do the good things we did on Saturday, I don't know what that's down to. They caused us a lot of problems and we have to find the reasons why."
Robertson thanked the SFA and his former national team managers for the pre-match tribute, emphasizing how much the gesture meant to him personally.
"I don't care about myself too much with personal achievements," Robertson stated. "It was amazing that my three ex-managers came, I can't thank them enough. It was a really nice touch from everyone at the SFA to organise that for me. That moment will never be taken away from me but, at the end of the day, when the whistle goes, I don't care if it's my first cap or my 101st cap."
The captain warned that Scotland could not afford to be outworked by opposition teams in competitive international matches.
"We wanted to kick on from Saturday because we had a really positive feeling about what we were doing and where we were going," Robertson added. "We didn't do that. It's been a long camp, I don't know if it was down to tiredness, but as far as I'm concerned Slovenia have played the same amount of games as us. They looked a lot fresher, a lot more hungry."
"As Scotland, we might lack quality or make mistakes, but I don't think people accept being outfought," Robertson concluded. "I think that's what happened tonight."
Euro 2028 qualification seeding task
The loss significantly complicates Scotland's trajectory in the UEFA Nations League, with direct consequences for European Championship qualification ranking.
Under UEFA regulations, finishing in second place in the group is required to guarantee a pot two seeding when the qualification draw for Euro 2028 takes place in December. Falling into pot three would mean a potentially harder qualifying group against top European nations.
To snatch second place back from Slovenia, Scotland must win both of their remaining Nations League matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland while relying on Slovenia to drop points.
Pocognoli acknowledged the steep challenge facing his side in the final two group games.
"Yes," Pocognoli replied when asked how tall an order the qualification task had become. "I said when we started the Nations League we wanted to be ambitious and strong in terms of the ranking."
"There are still two games to go," Pocognoli concluded. "Slovenia is now leading us in second place. We need to get six points out of six and hope Slovenia lose some points. We are not in a comfortable situation to fight for this. We just have to try to take maximum points."
