Motherwell ace Tony Watt optimistic about Scotland's chances against Israel tonight

Tony Watt (right) scored twice for Motherwell in European club competition this season (Pic by Ian McFadyen)

Motherwell striker Watt, 26, whose cap came in a 1-0 friendly win over the Czech Republic in a 2016 friendly in Prague, was assessing our hopes in the Euro 2020 qualifying semi-final play-off against Israel at Hampden Park.

Victory in that one will see the Scots through to face either Norway or Serbia away in the play-off final on Thursday, November 12, with a spot in next summer’s finals at stake.

“My international record is flattering,” Watt told the Times and Speaker.

“I didn’t do absolutely anything to deserve that.

“But I think we’ve got a good enough team now. I think we’ve got a lot of quality.

“It just depends on how the game goes.

“In football, anything can happen and it’s a winnable one, yeah.

“If we get through that, the final is a tricky one. What the big boy Haaland (Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland) did to Northern Ireland (in a recent 5-1 win in Belfast), a lot of the (Motherwell) boys came back from international duty and raved about him.

“They will both be tough. Israel won’t be an easy one and then obviously there’s the next one, but in a one-off game, you can beat anybody.”

On the European club arena this season, Watt scored in the Steelmen’s 5-1 thumping of Glentoran and also netted in the 2-2 draw and subsequent 3-0 penalty shootout success against Coleraine in the opening two Europa League qualifying rounds.

But he was unable to stop Hapoel Be’er Sheva inflicting a 3-0 away defeat on ’Well in the next round, with the Israelis subsequently reaching the group stages with a 1-0 win over Czech cracks Viktoria Plzen last Thursday.

“I don’t think you can look back and be sad about anything,” Watt said.

“I think we gave it a good crack and we were unfortunate. It shows how good a team Hapoel are to go through (against Plzen).

“On the night, I thought we had a good chance and unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

“I felt that 3-0 was a flattering score for them. I think anybody watching the game did.

“After they went 1-0 up, we went chasing the game and we got a bit unfortunate.”