Scotland head coach Steve Clarke took positives from his side’s 1-0 friendly defeat by Japan at Hampden, but expressed disappointment at the boos that accompanied the full-time whistle.
In their first outing since November’s famous 4-2 win over Denmark that secured their World Cup return after 27 years away, Scotland were competitive but blunt in attack as Junya Ito’s late goal decided the contest.
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Sections of the home crowd expressed their unhappiness after the game as Scotland’s World Cup preparations began with a loss.
“Yeah [the boos were surprising],” Clarke said. “It was disappointing. It’s just the modern way.
“It seems to be if you lose a game you get booed, you just have to deal with it.”
Despite the result, Clarke saw cause for optimism and singled out Middlesbrough forward Tommy Conway for praise on his second Scotland start.
“There’s a lot to take from the performance,” he said. “Obviously there are one or two things we can do better.
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“To lose it on the goal [we conceded] is disappointing. The game at that stage looked like it was going to peter out to a 0-0 draw.
“We made a mistake, probably tried to go forward too early, got caught and they managed to score off it.
“I thought we defended well in the game against a very good side. They pop the ball around really well and we knew they would cause us problems. I thought it would be a low-scoring game and it was.
“Tommy did really well coming off the left side and didn’t do himself any harm tonight. I liked my midfield, my midfield was strong.
“We played a lot of good stuff and I think we can be a bit more progressive to get to the top end of the pitch, but against top opposition sometimes that’s difficult.”
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Scotland legend James McFadden also felt there were elements to build on, while admitting the national team were below their best.
“I don’t think it was a poor performance, it’s just not been a brilliant, exciting performance,” he said.
“There’s no doubt it has to be much better when you go into the tournament, but it’s not been a terrible performance.
“This hasn’t been poor, it just hasn’t been good enough to win the game.”
‘No X-factor’ on frustrating night
Midfielder Kenny McLean believes the experience against high-calibre opposition will stand Scotland in good stead before this summer’s World Cup.
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The Scots have been drawn in Group C with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil.
They take on Ivory Coast at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday in the second of their March friendlies.
“A disappointing result. It’s good to get these challenges, we’re trying to prepare as well as we can for a big summer ahead,” said Norwich City’s McLean.
“We’ll try to get better and that’s what we’ll try to do again on Tuesday. The shape was decent enough at times.
“The second half was a bit better out of possession, but I think we could have been a bit more threatening at the top end of the pitch.
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“Japan are a really good team, they press you really well, but that’s what we’re going to come up against in the summer.
“There’s an expectation now and we want those expectations on us. We want to reach a new level.”
Despite the positive noises from Clarke, former Scotland striker Billy Dodds says Scotland have to improve on Tuesday and then again before they head across the Atlantic.
After the Ivory Coast fixture, Scotland will play Curacao on 30 May and one other unnamed opponent before the World Cup.
“The boys trying to push their way in will be most frustrated because they need a team to perform to their best,” Dodds said.
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“We must get a win at some point to get momentum and maybe that’s why we’ve chosen Curacao as the last fixture at home. But I would like us to play better against Ivory Coast and solve a few problems.
“We’re down because there was nothing for the crowd to get up for. It was flat. There was industry and effort but no X-factor.”
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