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Liam Cooper insisted Scotland are intent on doing themselves justice at Euro 2024 after failing to win a game in their last tilt at the tournament.<\/p>\n
The Scots go into their concluding two qualifiers \u2013 away to Georgia on Thursday and at home to Norway on Sunday \u2013 having already qualified for the finals in Germany next summer.<\/p>\n
Steve Clarke\u2019s men suffered group-stage elimination at Euro 2020 \u2013 delayed until 2021 due to Covid \u2013 after taking just one point from three games against Czech Republic, England and Croatia.<\/p>\n
Leeds defender Cooper \u2013 speaking from the Scots\u2019 training base in Turkey ahead of Thursday\u2019s match in Tbilisi \u2013 feels they will be better equipped this time to make it to the knockout phase.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs professionals, I think we put that expectation on ourselves immediately after the last Euros,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we did ourselves justice in that tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of lads\u2019 first taste of a major tournament, including myself, and straight after that we agreed among ourselves that we didn\u2019t really do ourselves justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of people, including ourselves, to prove to that we belong there and we can get through the group stages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got an honest bunch of lads and we hold ourselves accountable. We want to be satisfied with the way we performed. We\u2019ve done well in this qualification campaign, to qualify with two games to spare is amazing, but it can\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/x.com\/ScotlandNT\/status\/1724198526597415041?s=20<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be even more successful, we\u2019ve got to go and do ourselves justice at the Euros. I\u2019m lucky enough to have been at the last Euros, but if the goalposts don\u2019t change once you\u2019ve had a taste of that and you don\u2019t want to go and improve on it next time, then there\u2019s no point in you being here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooper admits it is a good feeling to go into the last two matches having already qualified but he is adamant the Scots will not be taking things easy over the next week, with top spot in Group A as well as a place in the squad for the finals at stake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have qualified with two games to spare, but there\u2019s also that carrot there that if Spain drop points, we can go and win the group,\u201d said the 32-year-old. \u201cThat\u2019s our motivation right now. We\u2019ve got to be professional and take our chance if Spain slip up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve only got this camp and the next camp to get ourselves in the manager\u2019s thoughts and get in the squad for Germany so that\u2019s also added motivation. We\u2019ve got to put ourselves forward and prove we should be on that plane to Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a taste of that before and it was an amazing experience albeit in difficult times for the world (due to Covid). There were limited people in the stadium so you didn\u2019t get the full experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was still an amazing experience but I think the Euros next summer will be unbelievable. It\u2019s something you always dream of as a kid so you\u2019ve got to do all you can by playing well and being successful in these next couple of games and into the March camp as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Excitement is building among the Scotland support and players ahead of the draw for the Euros group stage on December 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re obviously buzzing for that,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cWe can then get booked and our friends and families can start getting booked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a nightmare not knowing where we\u2019ll be playing, every person I\u2019ve spoken to has booked about 20 hotels on free cancellation so it will be nice to know where we\u2019re going to be based.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce all the logistics of it are sorted out then you can really start to look forward to it. But we\u2019re professionals and we understand there\u2019s a lot of football to be played before then and there\u2019s still a big decision to be made by the manager (regarding squad selection) so there will be no getting too carried away.\u201d<\/p>\n