Players must up their game against Belgians

Standing by the barrier in the Hampden mixed zone awaiting Scotland’s ashenfaced internationals, there was agreement among the assembled reporters on Friday night.

Should any Scots player come out

and cheerily declare that “all we have to do is beat Belgium, win in Russia and then hope other results go our way” then they would “be telt” in no uncertain terms to get a grip.

It was, of course, said in jest because even we hacks would never be so rude.

Thankfully, there was no need for such bravado and blunt realism from the media.

The players knew they had failed and were not afraid to say so.

The match that had just finished had seen the Scots outplayed at home in a manner that – even in these barren decades of non-qualification – is still quite rare.

Of course, we have seen Hampden masterclasses before from the very top nations such as Belgium (more of them later), but this was the Russians carving Scotland open at will.

It is worth noting that the two countries are neighbours in the Fifa world rankings: Russia on joint 46th (with Australia) and the Scots on 48

There is no yawning gap between the teams, according to the governing body, but there was one as wide as the Urals on Friday.

Whereas Russia had their star man Aleksander Golovin put on a display worthy of Belgian aces Eden Hazard or Kevin de Bruyne, the Scots got little out of their big guns.

The English Premier League players all fell short and Liverpool hero Andy Robertson was almost bafflingly below par.

The Scots, for their own sake as much as anything, must be at their absolute best tonight.

Even if they are, they will probably still lose because of Belgium’s excellence.

However, drop out of the match as they did against Russia then it could get very scary indeed.

The fans need hope and encouragement that it will get better under boss Steve Clarke and for that to happen Robertson and his team-mates will have to up their game considerably tonight.