'Scotland must lower expectations' - Lambert
Paul Lambert played 40 times for Scotland
Scotland need to stop living in the past when it comes to the national team, says Paul Lambert.
It has been 20 years since a Scottish side appeared in the finals of a major men's tournament and Lambert says it is time to lower expectations.
"Forget what's happened in the past, we're not there anymore," he said.
"This is the team we've got and we've to support them to try to get them through."
The midfielder, who won 40 caps and lined up against Brazilian greats Ronaldo and Rivaldo at the 1998 World Cup, hopes supporters can stick with the side as they fight to qualify for finals.
Fewer than 20,000 turned up at the national stadium at Hampden to watch the Scots lose 3-1 to Portugal in a friendly just three days after a 2-1 defeat to Israel in the Nations League put more pressure on boss Alex McLeish.
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"We have to try and rebuild," said Lambert. "And if fans can go with it and get through this period hopefully it will get better, because it's not great at the minute.
"The expectance levels - I think we've got to lower that now."
The former Motherwell, Celtic and Borussia Dortmund player hopes there will not be a "knee-jerk reaction" from the Scottish FA when it comes to manager Alex McLeish, who has overseen six defeats in his eight games of his second spell in charge.
"There's nobody else there. We're not in a good place at the minute but he's doing all he can to get better."
Scotland need to beat Israel to keep alive hopes of topping their Nations League group, with a trip to Albania and a home tie against the Israelis coming next month.
However, Lambert thinks Scots must get a result when they go to Albania on 17 November to maintain morale - before they host Israel three days later.
"We have to win, we have to beat Albania," he said. "If we don't beat Albania then you don't know what will happen."
Source: bbc.com
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