Highlights: Slovenia 0-0 Scotland

At a glance

  • Pocognoli kicks off reign with goalless draw in Slovenia

  • Stephen Welsh and Robbie Ure handed debuts

  • Oli McBurnie, five years after last gasp, fluffs golden opportunity for his first international goal

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Stozice Arena, Ljubljana

The Sebastien Pocognoli era got off to a steady start as a resurgent Scotland drew with streetwise Slovenia in Group B1 of the Nations League.

The Belgian replaced Steve Clarke - who left after the Scots' World Cup exit - with the vision of new attacking and aggressive football, and though an immediate transition was never likely, the signs of his style were on show after the break.

The Scots - who had debutants Stephen Welsh and Robbie Ure in the starting line-up - swapped their disjointed and passive first half for dominance in picturesque Ljubljana.

On his international return after five years in exile, Oli McBurnie looked destined to score on his 17th cap after stealing the ball on the edge of the box with only the experienced Jan Oblak to beat.

He tried to waltz his way through, when he really ought to have sneaked it through the goalkeeper's legs or lifted it above him.

It is unlikely he will get a better chance - though his close-range header was unfortunate.

That chance sparked something in his side, though, who were much improved in the second half as Aaron Hickey headed wide and substitute Kieron Bowie pulled a strike.

Alarm bells may have been ringing at half-time after a hard watch - where Ure kissed a post late on following Slovenia's Andraz Sporar having an early opener ruled out for offside.

But with a bit of patience, which will be required, the noise faded.

Pocognoli will have another chance to try for his win when he makes his Hampden bow on Tuesday as group favourites Switzerland visit - live on the BBC.

Kieron BowieSNS

Kieron Bowie went close in the second half for Scotland

Analysis: Plenty of positives for Pocognoli

All the excitement since Pocognoli's appointment - his fresh squad, his intriguing line-up – drained a tad with a drab first half.

The Scots looked like a team still trying to get to grips with what is being asked of them, because that's exactly what they were.

Balls were sent searching for wingers that did not exist as the 39-year-old's favoured 3-4-1-2 system was deployed, while it was all a bit congested the few times they reached the final third, as they struggled to get John McGinn on the ball.

The back three, too, looked less than convincing at times.

Pocognoli – and The Tartan Army – will take encouragement out of the second-half showing where the Scots used the wide areas well, controlled the midfield and looked a threat.

Match momentum graphicOpta

Who knows what he said at half-time, but he got quite the reaction.

Seldom do Scotland dominate in the final third away from home in this manner. But is this the new norm?

Supporters will have been pleased to see two strikers, but their lack of potency was a problem once again.

Bowie off the bench made an almighty impression and should have played his way into Tuesday’s team against the Swiss.

He should thrive in this forward-thinking, energetic approach.

Early doors, it didn’t look like that was coming. Instead more of the same slow and static Scotland that supporters have grown used to.

But the second half was evidence the initial excitement should stick around for a little bit longer.

What they said

Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli tells BBC Scotland: "I think we had two games in the same game, but you can analyse in a positive way both of them.

"First half, was not what we expected in terms of structure, we were in between for the press, actually we were a little bit surprised about the formation of Slovenia, but at half-time we fixed this and you can see that the second half was much better.

"We produced what we wanted to show every minute, but first half we learned to stick together, to defend the box, to be resilient and to be patient to change the game.

"We were also challenging about set-pieces, after five minutes we had many set-pieces to defend in, so that's the positive way to look at the first half, it was not always positive, but in the second half we had a game on the ball against a low block.

"So we had a lot of good movement through the side, through the lines and we should have scored to be honest, but the counter-press was good, the high [line] of the defence was good, just because the position of the players was better."

Scotland defender Stephen Welsh tells BBC Scotland: "Thought we struggled to get into the game first half, but second half we completely dominated the game.

"They've got a top goalie who made really good saves. So many positives to take and a clean sheet as well.

"We changed shape a wee bit at half-time to get more control and that did really well for us.

"It's a big game again on Tuesday so it's important to recover now and go again."

'I'm not going to be able to sleep thinking about those chances' - McBurnie

Player of the match

B. Gilmour
7.33
1 J. Oblak
7.05
6 J. Bijol
6.26
21 V. Drkušić
5.75
15 D. Šturm
5.68
10 T. Elšnik
5.29
22 A. Gnezda Čerin
5.24
23 D. Brekalo
5.13
2 Ž. Karničnik
5.06
20 A. Matko
5.00
13 E. Janža
4.88
4 M. Zabukovnik
4.73
3 J. Balkovec
4.62
9 A. Šporar
4.56
8 S. Lovrić
4.50
18 Ž. Vipotnik
4.43
17 D. Zec
3.79
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