Pocognoli urges 'smiling' Billy Gilmour to take risks after goalless Slovenia draw

Sébastien Pocognoli said on Saturday, after his debut as Scotland manager ended in a goalless away draw with Slovenia in the Nations League, that he wants a "smiling" Billy Gilmour to be central to Scotland's hopes of improvement following a bruising World Cup. Gilmour excelled in the second half of that match.

The Napoli midfielder missed the World Cup through injury, with Scotland exiting at the group stage. Pocognoli made the comments before his Hampden Park bow against Switzerland on Tuesday evening. Scotland trained on Monday at Hampden instead of their standard base next door as the manager looked to familiarise new squad members with the venue.

On Gilmour's qualities and role, Pocognoli said: "If you have a player who plays one touch without even looking where he puts the ball it means that he understands the game plan. We don’t have a lot of players like this. Even Switzerland don’t. I need to make sure that he finds his smile on the pitch and he was smiling after the game."

Pocognoli continued with a comparison of different phases of Gilmour's career and his temperament on the ball: "I saw the Billy from Brighton in Slovenia. At Napoli it is a little bit different, it is more thinking about off the ball. But when he can play he is smiling. He will make mistakes, he played bad passes against Slovenia. But he has to take the risks to play like that to see his qualities. "I just want Billy to enjoy his football with a smile. If he can do that, the rest will come. I remember him well when he was in Brighton. I thought he was fantastic for them."

Pocognoli also warned that players who are not featuring regularly for their clubs will find it harder to earn Scotland places, citing Ben Gannon-Doak, Ryan Christie and Aaron Hickey among those who have had restricted domestic minutes this season. While he said he is comfortable with that situation for now, he added it is likely to change by the time Euro 2028 qualifying begins next year.

Addressing game-time concerns directly, Pocognoli said: "I think Ben will get the games because Bournemouth have the Europa League. He will play, he will get time. Billy has played in recent weeks since the Champions League has started. So the teams will start to rotate. What concerns me is when March comes. If the players aren’t playing a lot then we will struggle with the physical aspects of the game. "The demands on the effort are massive. Right now it is OK because it is after pre-season. In November we will see. But we need to have players who have played."

Scotland will face Switzerland at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening.