5 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM SCOTLAND’S DOUBLE HEADER

1 WATCH your back, David Marshall. A bout of pneumonia prevented the Cardiff City goalkeeper from winning his 22nd cap last night but you would fully expect him to return to the fold against Italy in Malta in the summer. That said, the displays of both Allan McGregor in Prague and Craig Gordon at Hampden last night were highly commendable.

2 YOU are only as strong as your weakest link. For Scotland, that’s unarguably the centre of defence. In Prague, Christophe Berra and Russell Martin rather rode their luck to attain a clean sheet but earned the breaks. Last night, Gordon Greer and Grant Hanley made a decent fist of it.

3 ASIDE from goalkeeper, left-back is the one area of the pitch where Gordon Strachan’s concerns are of all the right kind. Andrew Robertson remains the man in possession. But what of Kieran Tierney? The 18-year-old Celt (left) made his full debut last night and looked every inch a seasoned international. Rangers captain Lee Wallace is a ludicrously talented player to have as back-up should his services be required.

4 MINNOWS aside, can anyone recall the last time Scotland fielded a system that was to all intents and purposes a 4-4-2? Steven Fletcher (left) dropped oh so deep at times to make up an extra man in midfield but, in essence, this was about as positive a formation as you could possibly wish to see.

5 THERE is no good reason why we shouldn’t be at the Euros. We saw it in flashes in the last campaign and it was evident against both the Czechs and the Danes. Scotland aren’t a great side. But nor are we as bad as our recent qualification record suggests.