SHAUN MALONEY has admitted he can feel the “desperation” from the whole of Scotland for the national team to put an end to almost two decades of disappointment and qualify for a World Cup.
The 1998 tournament in France was the country’s last involvement in a major championship and apart from a few close calls there has not been much for the supporters to cheer since then.
Scotland face Lithuania on Saturday at Hampden Park before travelling to Slovakia the following Tuesday and the general consensus is that a minimum of four points are required or their campaign could be more or less over at Wembley next month.
Read more: Shaun Maloney hoping to fill in the blank sheet on his impressive CV
Maloney is, at 33, now the oldest player in Gordon Strachan’s squad who is guaranteed some game-time – back-up defender Gordon Greer is two years older – and the veteran of so many failed qualifications is determined his international career won’t end without the most important box ticked.
And he senses everyone in the country feels the same.
“It would be great to get to a major finals after all these years, it would be an amazing achievement,” said Maloney.
Read more: Shaun Maloney hoping to fill in the blank sheet on his impressive CV
“But it really doesn’t feel like a personal thing. As the years go by you tend to see the press, the fans and the players. It’s getting close to the desperation stakes for the nation to make a tournament. I’m part of the squad that needs to try and deliver that.”
Maloney has won 47 caps in what has been a career blighted by serious injury and many of his best days in a Scotland jersey have come in the past few years.
The former Celtic man, now with Hull City in the Barclays Premier League, has suffered some real lows during his international career but, as he looks back on his time with Scotland, which began ten years ago, he has few regrets.
“I know we haven’t made it to a major championships but it’s difficult not to be proud of what I’ve achieved,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed it. Yes, there have been lots of disappointments but there have been some highs too.
“Sure, the disappointments outweigh them but I’m still really proud, I don’t think I could have expected to play so many times for my country when I was a younger player. I think the biggest disappointment for sure was the last qualifying campaign.
“That was the toughest for matches, individual moments, team performances and the end of that Poland game. That was very difficult to get over. I generally believed we were going to make it because we were playing very well, probably as well as we’ve played in a long time.”
Scotland looked almost a certainty to at least finish in a play-off last time out for the European Championships but a draw in Dublin then an appalling defeat away to Georgia ended all hopes of even third place.
Read more: Shaun Maloney hoping to fill in the blank sheet on his impressive CV
“The Georgia game did for us in terms of our aspirations but even going into that Poland game at home I still felt there was a chance,” said Maloney. "It just felt so close, as close as I’ve ever been in my Scotland career. It was pretty difficult.
“I enjoyed the last campaign, the way the team was set up there was a real onus on myself and some of the forward players. We had to produce performances and assist for goals. In every match I knew I had to produce a goal or an assist to merit my place. I hope we can build on that in this campaign.”
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