Analysis

GAVIN BERRY’S VERDICT THE first pancake is usually the worst.

That was Alex McLeish’s way of saying things would get better after the defeat to Costa Rica in his second Scotland dugout debut.

And after introducing some fresh ingredients from his flat opening game Big Eck found the recipe to get the victory he desperately wanted.

That first pancake usually ends up in the bin and McLeish ripped up his line-up for last night’s friendly in Budapest with seven changes.

And it paid off with a vastly improved display, despite a wretched pitch in the Groupama Arena, and Matt Phillips grabbing the winner.

The Hungarian capital is two cities with Buda and Pest divided by the mighty river Danube and Phillips is a player who splits opinion – but the 1100 Tartan Army footsoldiers were united in celebration at the West Brom man’s goal.

After disappointment of defeat to Costa Rica, McLeish knew a win was vital and the performance is something to build on.

He spoke pre-match of his regret that he didn’t accept the chance to take part in the filming of Escape to Victory while on duty here as a player in 1980 but he left last night without any regrets.

Tougher challenges lie ahead with friendlies against Peru, Mexico and Belgium before the Nations League opener against Albania.

Losing to World Cup-bound Costa Rica with an experimental team was understandable, even if the performance should have been better.

But fans needed to see an improvement here against a nation ranked 50th in the world and going through a bit of a crisis. And they got it.

Like Scotland, Hungary fans are desperate for a return to the days when they were seen as a force to be reckoned with.

The Magical Magyars, with Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas leading the attack, were regarded as one of the world’s best.

But they suffered the ultimate humiliation when they lost to Andorra – their first win in 13 years and 67 competitive games – in World Cup qualifying then were beat by Luxembourg in a friendly last year.

That was followed by a 3-2 defeat to Kazakhstan on Friday and the anger was apparent from the home fans, who stayed behind at the end to vent frustration as a new era under Georges Leekens got off to a poor start. Sound familiar? It might have been early days for both bosses, and only a friendly, but they desperately wanted a victory to avoid early pressure building.

Thankfully it was Eck who got it and Scots fans were able to toast the win in the cheapest city in Europe for a pint.