Steve Clarke believes there were plenty of positives for Scotland to take after Oliver Burke’s late winner against Cyrpus.
In his first game as Scotland boss since replacing Alex McLeish in May, Clarke’s team looked to be heading for a lacklustre draw, with Ioannis Kousoulos’ 87th-minute header having cancelled out a stunning strike from Andrew Robertson.
But substitute Burke came to the rescue two minutes later to lift Scotland onto six points in Euro 2020 qualifying Group I.
Group favourites and leaders Belgium are up next for Clarke’s side, who sit third, level on points with Russia after three games played.
And though he acknowledged that Scotland’s play – which was at times sluggish and toothless – will not change until he has had more time with the team, Clarke is feeling buoyant ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Belgium.
“The way we showed character to bounce back gives us good hope for the future,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’ve only had seven training sessions, so it won’t change overnight. I’ve given the lads a lot of information and I think some of them have taken it on too literally.
“It was a game we couldn’t afford to lose and we handled that pressure.
“I thought we did okay. At 1-0, I thought we were comfortable but we switched off from a set play. It would have been easy to feel sorry for ourselves but the players showed great resilience and that’s a good sign.
“I’m confident we have a group players who will certainly make it a difficult night for Belgium. A lot of things to be pleased about and a lot of things to work on.”
Meanwhile winning scorer Burke was delighted to be the one to secure a vital three points for his side.
“It was made for me to make an impact, coming on,” he said. “Conceding so late, it drove us on in search of the second goal and I think we deserved it.”
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