Patterson the real deal as Scots prepare for group-defining clash

It should have been far more comfortable than just 1-0 but Scotland got the win they needed in the second of their three World Cup qualifiers in this set of internationals.

Scotland are at their best when they marry aggression, high tempo and dynamism. Always have been, always will be.

Those three qualities were personified by Nathan Patterson, making his first start for the national team.

A careless early pass that was intercepted apart, Patterson was excellent.

The lion’s share of the credit for the winning goal goes to the young Rangers man.

Front-foot defence and the sort of quick transition of play that can result from it is hugely important in international football, particularly against a side set up to frustrate and contain.

When Patterson won the ball on the halfway line in the 13th minute, the conviction of his dart forward presented the opportunity to release Kevin Nisbet on the overlap and the defender, linked with Everton before the transfer window shut, was unlucky not to beat the Moldovan goalkeeper when he got a return pass.

Lyndon Dykes, though, had the simplest of back-post finishes when Cristian Avram couldn’t hold on to it.

Like Billy Gilmour, Patterson is the real deal. And like Billy Gilmour, he should have been in the team for the Euros.

There will be tougher tests, starting tomorrow night in Vienna, but Patterson is a 50-plus cap man in waiting and is likely to move the Scotland problem position debate on to new territory.

So what about the strikers? Ah yes, the problem position that remains. Dykes got his goal, and very important it was too. He also linked up play proficiently and won his share of headers.

This was the sort of game you expect him to look good in though (against the lower to mid-ranking countries at Hampden).

It was also the sort of game in which pairing him with Kevin Nisbet made sense. Dykes and Che Adams underwhelmed as a partnership in the summer and a new attacking combination needed to be tried.

Nisbet started promisingly, faded towards the end of the first half and into the beginning of the second, and then came back to life around the hour mark when he played a perfectly weighted ball into the box that Gilmour should have scored from.

It was a level of performance unlikely to earn the Hibs man, substituted a few minutes later, a start in the last match of the triple-header.

Who to play up front will be Clarke’s chief selection dilemma.

Scotland are on a winless run of nine games against nations either ranked above or close to them. The last victory in that category of contest was the one that qualified Clarke’s side for Euro 2020.

But even it has a caveat, given it was decided by penalty kicks.

The autumn 2020 spell of form that culminated with the triumph in Belgrade stands as an isolated purple patch at present rather than a crossroads.

Scotland have got another of those type of fixtures in Austria in midweek and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Scotland will never take a leap forward – they certainly won’t be at the next World Cup – if they can’t find a way of winning matches they are either not expected to, or are only rated as having a 50-50 chance in.

Perhaps Austria’s unexpected defeat in Israel means it isn’t quite a mustwin (it’s certainly a mustnot-lose) but the approach should be as if it is.