'It was as if the goal scared us' - Reaction after Scotland lose to Russia

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is stubbornly refusing to call the Belgium game a "must-win", even though an unlikely victory would have to be followed by a positive result in Moscow.

"Everybody loves the term must-win but if we get one point on Monday night and then three points in Russia it's still four points," he says. "So there are still enough points in the group to qualify. At this moment in time rather than say it's a must-win, it's a game in which we need to get something from."

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is holding on to the thought of taking something from Belgium.

He says: "It makes it more difficult than it was before. I spoke about the three difficult games that we had coming up. Obviously, that was the first one and all three points are away. Monday night is beginning to look like a game in which we need something. Whether it's one or three points. We have to get something to give ourselves a realistic chance in the group."

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is asked why his team struggled to keep the ball, constantly surrendering possession.

"It's something that we have to address," he says. "We spoke about it after the game. I think that our biggest disappointment. We gave the ball away quite cheaply and seemed to become very nervous after we took the lead for some reason.

"Whether we had to sit back and defend for the rest of the game and try to see it out. Too many possession losses. Too nervous on the ball. And not enough threat going forward after we got the first goal. Towards the end of the game we huffed and puffed a little bit but didn't really look like scoring. Charlie Mulgrew's free-kick was probably the exception."

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A glum Scotland manager Steve Clarke has to field more questions as his media conference begins at Hampden.

"It was ultimately disappointing," he says. "We felt we had prepared well for the game. I think the start of the game showed you that we probably had. We got on top and got ourselves in front. And then, for a reason I've yet top determine - probably looking back at the video I may notice a few reasons why, we stepped off the game and allowed Russia to dominate us and impose their style of play on us."

You can catch highlights of tonight's match on BBC Scotland right now, with analysis from Steven Thompson and Michael Stewart.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson speaking to Sky Sports: "I don't know why we dropped off. We went a lot deeper. It probably played in to their hands because they had the big man up front. They ran off him in to more dangerous areas. At the start, when we were all pushing up and getting after the ball we were keeping it. Every time we got the ball after the goal we looked a bag of nerves.

"If you don't keep the ball at this level then you'll never win games. You'll just invite pressure and they started putting on the pressure and got the goal that they deserved. Unfortunately, in the second half we couldn't get back to what we did in the first 15 minutes because if we did we would have had a goal because I don't think Russia were the best either. It was just whoever wasn't as bad and unfortunately we were worse than them."

Steve Clarke is not ready to throw the towel in just yet as he prepares to lift his disappointed players for the next test against Belgium.

"We have to get the lads back in a positive frame of mind for Monday, try and get something out of the game," he tells Sky Sports. "We have to look at the Belgium game now as almost a must-win, that’s the scenario we’ve put ourselves in.

"We’ve put ourselves in a difficult position in the group and certainly we have to get something from the game on Monday. If we can get three points it would give us half a chance of getting out the group."

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Scotland boss Steve Clarke, speaking to Sky Sports...

"It was a disappointing result after such a bright and promising start. It just seems as though we panicked, started getting caught in possession, seemed a little bit nervous on the ball and that feeds through to the crowd.

"Suddenly, we couldn’t get hold of the ball. We had one or two opportunities when it was still 1-0 on the counter-attack where we didn’t pick the right pass, we didn’t cause them enough problems like they did when they counter-attacked us.

"Lots of things to work on and ultimately a disappointing night. If you’re going to qualify from the group, you have to turn up on the big nights in the big games. This was a night where we had to turn up. We turned up at the start, we were definitely in the game. When it goes 2-1 the momentum swings. The Russians were always a threat on the counter-attack."

Scotland captain Andy Robertson speaking to Sky Sports: "I'm annoyed at my own performance. What I did out there and what the rest of the lads did - all 14 of us that came on - didn't do the job that we should have been doing. I don't think anyone got pass marks. David Marshall maybe. To have 10 players from the start not really showing up and giving the performances that we can do is never going to win you a game of football. So that's why we got this result."

Aleksandr Golovin.

Fair enough. The Russia playmaker was head and shoulders above everyone else and set up the winning goal.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson speaking to Sky Sports: "A sense of frustration. Annoyed at everything that goes along with it. You can feel the frustration from the stands. We've only got ourselves to blame. We can't moan about that. We started well, got the goal and then it was as if the goal scared us. I've never seen anything like that before. That needs to change because if we go into a lead it should be a positive not a negative. It worked as a negative today."

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Quote Message: We need momentum for those play-offs or we are in real trouble

We need momentum for those play-offs or we are in real trouble

Remember, all is not lost if Scotland cannot pull off a sporting miracle and grab a top-two place in Group I since we are guaranteed a place in the Nations League play-offs.

I won't get into the permutations of who we might be up against because it is changing all the time but Scotland appear destined to be at home in a one-off semi-final against another nation from the 'C tier' that hasn't qualified.

The final is also a one-off game, with the venue decided by the drawing of lots.

The rest of this campaign is surely about getting the team in shape for those games.

Hampden is hosting four matches at Euro 2020. It's going to be tough looking in if we're not at the party.

I'm duty bound to tell you our Player Rater is still up and running. Just.

If you are feeling like having a vent, you can find it HERE

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A bit more from Scotland midfielder John McGinn speaking to Sky Sports: "We were in a really good position in a game we needed to win. We were on the front foot and everyone will agree we started the game well and showed what we're capable of. But then we dropped back and invited Russia on to us and they punished us. We have been punished tonight."

Scotland midfielder John McGinn speaking to Sky Sports: "It was obviously a fantastic feeling to score. It's something that has been bugging me. I've been getting on the score sheet at club level and it's something I was really keen to do but if I could swap it now for the three points I would do it every day of the week."

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Quote Message: It's very difficult to pick out a Scottish man of the match after such a poor performance. Maybe David Marshall. He made three very good saves. One of those was a world-class save.

It's very difficult to pick out a Scottish man of the match after such a poor performance. Maybe David Marshall. He made three very good saves. One of those was a world-class save.