‘We’ve got a guy who can score’

“YOU WOULDN’T say we were absolutely sure we wouldn’t lose a goal because they had some big players and we had to defend some free-kicks, one or two of which were pretty debatable, especially the one the goal came off.

“We are a wee bit disappointed we weren’t able to build on the half-time lead.”

Charlie Mulgrew dominated central midfield in the first half but Stark had to replace the Celtic man at half-time, with Liam Kelly coming on for his debut, to keep him fresh for his Champions League campaign.

Stark’s 4-4-2 formation, with Kenny Miller partnering Rhodes, began to look like a 4-2-4 as Scotland failed to control the middle of the park after the interval.

Stark said: “I don’t think anyone would say we didn’t deserve to win but the second half was sticky.

“We were in a position where we had to defend.

“We had a lot of forward players on there who worked hard to do that defensive work but then weren’t able to give us the same cutting edge we had in the first half.

“I don’t think it was any negative thoughts.

“It was difficult because they had so many bodies in defence and they broke quickly.”

Stark added: “I think the defining moment in the second half was them getting the goal from a dubious free-kick.

“But it’s a free-kick.”

He admitted the performance of Rhodes, who now has three goals from three international starts, was the main positive.

“We’ve seen we’ve got a guy who can score at every level he has played at so far,” Stark said.

“It was a wee bit disappointing not to get the hattrick but he’ll be grateful for the two goals and who knows, that might still be in front of him, with the goalscoring record he has.”

really good