Former Scotland coach Craig Brown has warned the national team not to accept failure to qualify for major tournaments as the norm. Tuesday night's 3-1 defeat to world champions Spain in Alicante ended Scotland's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012, meaning they still have not been to a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup in France.
"There should be no place for failure in the mentality of players," Brown told BBC Radio Five Live. "The fans are now beginning to accept failure, which is surprising.
"The Tartan Army definitely deserves to go to a major tournament. I'm hoping and praying it will be the next one, the World Cup." Brown expects Scotland to be back on the major stage at some point.
"Obviously yes, the law of averages says yes," he said. "I was lucky. From '86 to '98 I was at five major tournaments with Scotland.
"It just became accepted we were going. I was lucky to be at three World Cups and two European Championships. Now we're struggling to get to either of those.
"I genuinely think this team which is emerging at the moment is good enough to qualify for the World Cup."
