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Former Scotland midfielder John Collins insists the national team has gone backwards in the last year under Gordon Strachan following a promising start.
Collins pulled no punches about the state of Scotland on the eve of the crucial World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley.
The ex-Celtic player and assistant manager insists the country has been in decline since the 1-0 defeat away to Georgia in September 2015 effectively put paid to Scotland’s hopes of reaching the European Championship finals in France during the summer.
A disappointing start to the current World Cup qualifying campaign has left Strachan’s side playing catch-up after last month’s draw with Lithuania and heavy defeat to Slovakia.
And Collins, part of the Scotland team that last played in a major finals at France 98, insists the country has regressed.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “The first year he was in the job, we played some terrific football and there was excitement in the county.
“In the first 12 months we moved forward, I think in the last 12 months we haven’t moved forward, we’ve stagnated and if anything we’ve slid backwards.
“We had a poor end to the last campaign after a very good start to it and it died away.
“We’ve had a poor start in this tournament, the first three games have been disappointing.
“We won comfortably in Malta but the last two were very poor, Lithuania at home – you have to win your home games and that was disappointing.
“To lose three-nil away to Slovakia was bitterly disappointing so we’re under pressure and we need a result against England.”
