How Scottish Premiership stars fared on international duty as one player singled out for Roy Keane criticism
Mixed fortunes for Scottish-based players
The international break is over and players from across the Scottish Premiership are returning to their clubs having experienced a mixture of fortunes while playing for their countries.
There was dejection for the Scotland players after two late defeats to Poland and Portugal made it eight matches without a competitive victory - the worst run in the nation's history.
The only Scottish-based player to start both matches for Steve Clarke's side was Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston, while the only other SPFL player to get on the pitch was Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, who got 19 minutes as a substitute in the 3-2 defeat to Poland at Hampden.
Rangers duo John Souttar and Connor Barron were unused subs across both games along with both back-up goalkeepers, Dundee's Jon McCracken and Hearts' Zander Clark.
The Northern Irish SPFL contingent also had limited involvement with Rangers winger Ross McCausland a late second half substitute in both the 2-0 win over Luxembourg and 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria, while Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons was left on the bench for both matches.
Dimitar Mitov continued his excellent start to the season with Aberdeen by keeping two clean sheets for Bulgaria in their goalless draw with Belarus which was followed by a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.
It was a similar case for Celtic number one Kasper Schmeichel who also kept the ball out of the Denmark net across his two games with back-to-back 2-0 victories over Switzerland and Serbia.
There was a landmark moment for Celtic's record signing Arne Engels, who joined from Augbsurg for £11m on transfer deadline day, as he made his senior Belgium debut off the bench in a 3-1 win over Israel.
He was unable to earn a second cap in the 2-0 defeat to France, however, as he was suspended for the match in Lyon due to an accumulation of bookings picked up at Under-21 level.
The SPFL's Australian contingent had a disappointing international window with the Socceroos going down to a 1-0 defeat to Bahrain before being held to a goalless draw by Indonesia in World Cup qualifiers.
Hibs winger Martin Boyle and Hearts defender Kye Rowles were dropped for the second match after starting the first, with Rowles appearing as a sub against Indonesia. Hearts' Cammy Devlin was an unused sub in both matches.
Rangers outcast Ianis Hagi issued a reminder of his worth by winning a crucial penalty for Romania in a 3-1 win over Lithuania. The Nations League match was heading for a 1-1 draw until Hagi came off the bench to win his side an 87th minute penalty. The 25-year-old also made a substitute appearance in the 3-0 win over Kosovo on Friday.
Celtic's Daizen Maeda was among the scorers as Japan went goal crazy with a 7-0 win over China followed by a 5-0 in Bahrain in their World Cup qualifiers. Maeda grabbed the sixth against China after coming off the bench but was an unused sub against Bahrain as he played a total of just 27 minutes.
St Mirren's Alex Gogic started and finished both of Cyprus' matches at the centre of a back three, helping his side to a 1-0 win over Lithuania before suffering a 4-0 home defeat to Kosovo.
Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny was an unused substitute for the Czech Republic's 4-1 defeat in Georgia but he started the 3-2 win over Ukraine and provided the assist for his side's opening goal.
Celtic duo Liam Scales and Adam Idah endured a tough time with Republic of Ireland with back-to-back 2-0 home defeats to England and Greece. Idah started against England but barely got a sniff of goal, he was then dropped to the bench against Greece, only coming on for the final three minutes. Scales was an unused sub in both matches.
New Rangers signing Nedim Bajrami played 77 minutes as Albania enjoyed an impressive 2-1 win over Ukraine and then played 81 minutes in a 1-0 defeat to Georgia. Rangers fans will get their first glimpse of the attacker this Sunday at Dundee United following his deadline day move from Sassuolo.
Aberdeen's £1m recruit from HJK Helsinki, Topi Keskinen, earned his first senior caps for Finland. He made his debut off the bench in the 3-0 defeat to Greece, and then started the 2-0 loss to England at Wembley.
However, the 21-year-old was on the receiving end of some criticism from ITV pundit Roy Keane who accused the Dongs winger of "pure greed" when he opted to shoot rather than square to Teemu Pukki for a tap in.
The Man Utd legend suggested that Pukki would be "absolutely fuming" with his young team-mate for choosing the wrong option and spurning a golden chance for Finland to take the lead.
Elsewhere, Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston was substituted in the first-half of Canada's 2-1 win over USA last week after feeling tightness in his hamstring. He was not included in Canada's matchday squad for the goalless draw in Mexico on Tuesday and will now be assessed on his return to Glasgow.
Celtic's new signing Auston Trusty, a deadline day arrival from Sheffield United, was an unused sub for the USA in the defeat to Canada and the 1-1 draw with New Zealand.
Hearts defender Gerald Taylor was involved as Costa Rica enjoyed a productive international break in the CONCACAF Nations League. He was an unused substitute in the 3-0 win over Guadeloupe but played 78 minutes of the 0-0 draw away to Guatemala, with Hearts defender Gerald Taylor involved. He was an unused substitute against Guadeloupe but played 78 minutes of the match in Guatemala. His Tynecastle team-mate Kenneth Vargas did not feature in any of the games, missing the first match due to injury then being left out for the second encounter due to a mystery registration issue.
“Kenneth Vargas was left out of the list last Thursday because he had a serious blow to his instep and was not 100%,” stated Costa Rica head coach Claudio Vivas when questioned on the matter. “Today's situation was an administrative difficulty that we will explain in more detail later. I can't say anything else. We were working on the situation, but it was an administrative error.”
Meanwhile, Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri failed to get off the bench as DR Congo claimed a 1-0 win over Guinea and a 2-0 win over Ethiopia in African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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