SCOTLAND and West Ham United midfielder Robert Snodgrass believes manager Gordon Strachan is correct in saying that next Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Slovenia is a must-win game.
The Scots have recorded just one win in their opening four Group F matches and occupy fifth place in the table, four points adrift of next weekend's visitors to Hampden Park.
Strachan accepted that his side need to take three points from the meeting, which comes four days after a friendly against Canada at Easter Road, an assessment Snodgrass agrees with.
"He's right in what he says," he told BBC Sportsound.
"The lads know that. We know we need to get back to winning ways.
"When you lose games against Slovakia and England, you're going to get the criticism that goes with it."
The uncapped trio of Celtic's Stuart Armstrong, Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser and Fulham's Tom Cairney are among the new faces in Strachan's squad for the double-header.
And Snodgrass, who joined West Ham from Hull City during the January transfer window, believes that there is more talent in the national team than recent results would suggest.
"There's ability in the squad," he insisted.
"There's strength, depth, there's character, there's youth, there's maturity. It's good for the manager.
"The players that he's brought into the squad, lads are playing at a good level, lads are scoring goals in the Premier League, lads are scoring goals in the Championship, the [Scottish Premiership]. It's good to see.
"It's good to get a game [against Canada] before to see what lads need some minutes then the manager will pick the right team to go on the Sunday."
Scotland's only home game of the qualifying campaign so far resulted in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Lithuania and Snodgrass suggested that they had underestimated their opponents.
"They were probably the better side on the night in the first half and it shocked us a little bit," he said.
"We need to be ready and we need to take our chances when we get them on the night."
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