Scotland didn't do enough to win a game of such magnitude says ex-national team boss

Craig Levein praised Scotland substitute Scott McKenna after his second half introduction, but it still wasn’t enough for Steve Clarke’s side.

Craig Levein (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Scotland went down 1-0 in Israel, ending hopes of Nations League promotion for some glamour ties next year and a potential play-off back-up for World Cup qualifying.

However Manor Solomon’s goal just before half-time and Czech Republic 2-0 win over Slovakia in Plzen ended the hopes and three international games within a week, with a defeat.

Former Scotland defender Willie Miller said the performance was a drop in standard from the previous two games where Scotland had defeated Serbia on penalties to qualify for Euro 2020 and then performed well despite a 1-0 loss in Slovakia.

Scott McKenna came in for praise from the ex-Scotland boss (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The ABerdeen legend said: “I think it lacked a lot of energy and creativity and everything that was good in the last game wasn’t there.

They looked leggy and looked like they didn’t have the energy they’d shown in recent games.”

Speaking on BBC sportsound there was debate in the studio over the merits of the match which Richard Gordon revealed Levein had summed up as ‘meh’.But the ex-Scotland boss explained further, saying Scotland didn’t deserve to win but praising Nottingham Forest defender McKenna who came on as a late second half substitute to replace Declan Gallagher.

He said: “For the magnitude of the game we didn’t put as much into it as you’d need to win that match.

“Lack of energy was the biggest problem – call it energy or aggression – it doesn’t matter.

“What I was looking for was what Scott McKenna brought to the team. He looked like he was desperate to play and had bundles of energy – even defensively he was strong with his headers.

“The guys around about him looked like they’d been running through a ploughed field for half an hour.”

On Sky Sports ex-Scotland striker James McFadden said: “It’s disappointing not to seal top spot, performances have been decent, good enough but overall we’re absolutely delighted to be going to the Euros.

"It’s disappointing to end in defeat but the aim of the week was to get to the Euros – we got there and it was magic.”

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