Sport

Scotland can take something from Slovakia game says James Forrest

Scotland's James Forrest battles for the ball with Lithuania's Vytautas Andriuskevicius during Saturday's Fifa World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park<br />Picture by PA&nbsp;
Scotland's James Forrest battles for the ball with Lithuania's Vytautas Andriuskevicius during Saturday's Fifa World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park
Picture by PA 
Scotland's James Forrest battles for the ball with Lithuania's Vytautas Andriuskevicius during Saturday's Fifa World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park
Picture by PA 

JAMES FORREST believes there are "a few upsets" still to come in Scotland's World Cup qualifying group as Gordon Strachan's squad prepare for Slovakia on Tuesday night.

The disappointment felt after the Scots' 1-1 draw with Lithuania at Hampden Park last Saturday night, which required an 89th-minute leveller from substitute James McArthur to secure the point, was tempered somewhat with the news the Slovaks had lost 1-0 away to Slovenia.

The surprise defeat leaves Group F's second seeds pointless after two games, but the Celtic winger expects more twists and turns as the campaign unfolds: "You need to look on the positive," he said.

"We have four points and not been beat. There is still a long way to go and I think there are a few upsets in the group still to come, so hopefully we can get a good result on Tuesday and the boys will be confident.

"At home and in front of this crowd, you are expected to win and we didn't do that. The last 10 minutes, we looked like scoring goals and it was just unfortunate that we drew, but we will take some confidence into the next game.

"We have only played two games and we have four points and we need to try and build on that. Every game in this group is going to be tough. The game on Tuesday is going to be a hard one and the boys are going to have to be at it from the start."

Despite the unexpected loss of two points against Lithuania, midfielder Barry Bannan believes there is enough quality in the Scotland camp to travel to Slovakia with confidence.

"Slovakia have lost again, so if we can go there and get a point or three points, then it has been a good two games for us," he said.

"We are confident of what we have here of going over there and getting something. We will concentrate on ourselves and not worry too much about them. Lithuania have shown that they are going to take points off teams in this group.

"Sometimes, it doesn't click on the night, but it could be a huge point at the end of the group."