Hampden debut to forget but Pocognoli looks at bigger picture

Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli hopes to "remember this night differently later on" after his Hampden debut ended in a deflating Nations League defeat by Switzerland.

Off the back of a goalless draw in Ljubljana on Saturday in his first game as Scotland boss, Pocognoli's side slumped to a 3-0 loss in Glasgow's southside on Tuesday.

Scotland are now without a clean sheet in eight home matches and, perhaps more worryingly, have failed to score in six of their nine games this year.

Pocognoli promised a more attacking approach, built on a high press and high energy, but those ideals were undermined by Jack Hendry's 11th-minute red card.

Ricardo Rodriguez rifled the subsequent free-kick past Angus Gunn and the Swiss never ceded control, with Leeds United centre-back Nico Elvedi and Burnley midfielder Zeki Amdouni adding to the scoreline in the second half.

The Scots are third in their Nations League group after two games, with a trip to bottom side North Macedonia on Saturday before the visit of Slovenia on Tuesday.

"It's not easy against a good team to be with 10 men," said Pocognoli, who was appointed as Steve Clarke's successor in August.

"It will be more about the reaction. We had an unlucky red card, punished with the free-kick, that's the worst scenario. The guys did the best they could and hopefully we will remember this night differently later on."

The Belgian cut a frustrated and dejected figure after the game, one which was effectively over when Rodriguez's free-kick beat Angus Gunn's flailing right hand.

"It's a horrible situation," former Scotland defender Willie Miller said on Sportsound. "He was sounding pretty depressed there, Pocognoli. We all are.

"He needs to lift the team now for North Macedonia."

Scotland should have won against Slovenia at the weekend, but were instead left to rue gilt-edged chances spurned by Oli McBurnie and Kieron Bowie.

But their second-half display - on the ball and on the front foot - would have given supporters heading to Hampden cause for optimism.

And yet, Hendry's rash challenge on Dan Ndoye as he desperately tried to scramble back left Scotland only able to sit in a low block and try to restrict their opponents.

"Your gameplan goes out of the window with the red card," former Scotland defender Stephen O'Donnell said. "Good sides grind you down and pick you off, that's what happened."

Although it was Hendry's sending off that put Scotland on the back foot, his team-mates rallied round him post-match.

"He tried to apologise to the lads, but the manager was like 'that's football, that happens'," said Gunn, who would likely want at least one of the Swiss goals back.

"We're a team and we stick together. No-one's got to apologise for anything."

Captain Andy Robertson admitted he would have rather seen a penalty awarded for Hendry's challenge, as it originally was before VAR intervened to advise referee Nenad Minakovic the incident was outside the box.

"It was incredibly hard with 11 men on the pitch, it was even harder with 10," the Tottenham Hotspur left-back said.

"Football is about split second decisions, Jack has tried to nick the ball. As soon as the referee said it was outside the box I thought we would have been better taking the penalty and the yellow card."

And Robertson, who is set to win his 100th cap in Skopje, echoed Pocognoli's desire to stay positive and trust the process.

"What we've planned for the last three days went completely out the window. We had to rip up the plan and try something else.

"Ultimately I don't think we'll take too much from this game in terms of how we want to look as a Scotland team. It's up to everyone to stay positive."