Sickening collapse as Scots suffer Russia rout

Euro 2020: Devlin debut marred by emphatic mauling in Moscow

Aberdeen defender Mikey Devlin was left sickened by the way Scotland fell apart in their 4-0 defeat to Russia.

Devlin, making his debut at the Luzhniki Stadium, was part of a Scots defence that held Russia at bay for the first 45 minutes but then caved in during a tumultuous second half.

It made what should have been a memorable night for the former Hamilton man hard to judge, with his long-awaited bow for the national team culminating in a fourth successive Scotland defeat.

Their downfall began with the first of Artem Dzyuba’s two goals, before Magomed Ozdoev and Aleksandr Golovin completed the rout.

Devlin said: “At that point of the game, one goal doesn’t change what we’re doing and we’ve got to stick to the principles the us against a good side. It’s not expected, that gulf of result, and for the first 60 minutes we showed we can compete.”

Scotland return to action on Sunday at Hampden against San Marino and with three games left in Euro 2020 qualification, positives are becoming harder to find.

The only people who can deliver that ultimately are the players and Devlin has laid down that gauntlet for the side that takes the field in Glasgow against the group minnows.

Devlin added: “We’ve got three games to end on a positive. We need to stick together and keep working.

“Feeling sorry for ourselves isn’t going to change that. We need to show the country that they can be proud of us.

“We’ve got the opportunity in front of our own fans to take the game to San Marino and get a result.”

DEJECTED: Scot Robert Snodgrass at full-time last night