Scotland rugby coach Levein launches attack on ref
KAUNAS, Lithuania — Scotland manager Craig Levein launched a scathing attack on the referee, claiming his side were virtually kicked off the pitch by Lithuania in their Euro 2012 qualifier which…
KAUNAS, Lithuania — Scotland manager Craig Levein launched a scathing attack on the referee, claiming his side were virtually kicked off the pitch by Lithuania in their Euro 2012 qualifier which ended 0-0.Levein, taking charge for his first competitive fixture, believes his side should have collected the three points from the Group I encounter, a mission thwarted by what he claimed was a lack of protection for his players."The biggest frustration for me was the performance of the referee," said the coach."There was foul after foul and any time we got any rhythm going at all they brought us down."There were guys in their team with five or six fouls without getting a caution. That really disappointed me as I felt that was a tactic of theirs to try and break up any moves we had."I expect my players to get more protection from the referee. They were happy with a point as I think they realised we were better than them."Despite Levein's frustrations, Tottenham defender Alan Hutton insisted the Scots can build on their performance.The draw leaves the Scots trailing Spain at the top of the group after the world and European champions thrashed minnows Liechtenstein 4-0.Spain are the overwhelming favourites to win Group I leaving Scotland to battle it out with the Czech Republic and Lithuania for second place and a play-off spot.While disappointed not to get their campaign off to a winning start, Hutton said Scotland are improving under Levein and is optimistic heading into Tuesday's game against Liechtenstein in Glasgow."Obviously it was frustrating not to win but I think at the end of the day we can take a lot of positives out of the game," said Hutton."We attacked well and defended well and I think there is a lot to go on and build on for Tuesday."This is only our first few games with the new manager. We've got great ability in our squad and we are improving under the new manager at every training session."We've done well against Lithuania and I'm sure we can build on it."Captain Darren Fletcher was left ruing a
last modification 2010-09-04 04:30:04
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