Source: Team_Talk
McCall defends deflated SPL
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall has urged Scottish football fans to appreciate what they have despite another disappointing night in Europe. Both Old Firm clubs suffered underwhelming results in the Europa League play-offs with Rangers falling to a 2-1 defeat by Maribor in Slovenia and Celtic held to a goalless home draw by Sion.And a 5-0 defeat for Hearts against Tottenham at Tynecastle sparked doom in some quarters over the gulf in class between the top-level English game and its Scottish counterpart.But McCall believes there are many things to be positive about in Scottish football, including improvement in the national team and the numbers of talented young players coming through.The former Scotland midfielder, whose team top the Scottish Premier League ahead of the visit of Rangers on Sunday, said: "You have to put things in context, Rangers and Celtic had disappointing results but I'd hope they will both still go through."Hearts is a different story. You have to look at the budget and the players Spurs can call on."There's (Jermain) Defoe and (Rafael) van der Vaart, (Aaron) Lennon on one side and (Gareth) Bale on the other side - it's formidable."It's disappointing, but if we look at the result in the cold light of day then maybe it's not surprising with the quality they have - Spurs are a top, top Premiership side."Whoever they come up against from Scotland I think would be a tough, tough game."The former Bradford manager added: "I think we have to relish what we've got and enjoy the young lads we've got playing now."The national team is doing okay, albeit a lot of them are playing down south."It all comes down to finances, I mean we get outbid from (English) non-league teams for players and that's the reality of the finances in the Scottish game."There's been a lot of good football this season by teams in the SPL and I think we need to be positive."Midfielder Keith Lasley, who spent two years in England at Plymouth and Blackpool, hopes the European results do not detract from a bright start to the SPL season, not just for his own club, who have not conceded a goal in four games."The (Hearts) result does look bad on paper, there's no doubt about that," the 31-year-old said."I think Hearts would probably admit they weren't at their best."But if you take a step back and look at the Tottenham squad, I think there is a gulf even in England."I know it's 5-0 but hopefully there is not too much of a knee-jerk reaction. Tottenham would have beaten most English teams last night."It doesn't look good but hopefully it's not going to be a sign of things to come. The national team is looking positive at the moment."Lasley added: "There are more and more teams playing an open, attractive game. You look at Kilmarnock blazing a trail last year, St Mirren, there are plenty of teams out there trying to play the right way."There have been plenty of good games and good goals scored in the SPL and I just hope it doesn't get put down as much as it probably, unfortunately, will."Lasley is not counting on Rangers suffering a bad reaction to their last-minute defeat but he is optimistic Motherwell can end a winless run against the Glasgow club stretching back to Boxing Day 2002."Rangers are well experienced at going away in Europe and coming back to play, they do it year in, year out," said Lasley, who returns from suspension on Sunday."They are coming off a good result in the league and they are experienced enough to come back from that game and not have any ill effects."Last year it wasn't a great fixture for us in the league but hopefully we can change that."We've started well, confidence is up, it's a home game and we want to make sure any game at Fir Park is tough for the opposition."