Scots keep World Cup dream alive, but Steve Clarke admits he's never been more disappointed in his team

Steve Clarke admitted Scotland’s performance against Belarus was nowhere near good enough - despite the players earning a 2-1 victory that ultimately saw them secure a World Cup play-off place.

Goals from Che Adams and Scott McTominay claimed the precious three points which take the Scots a giant step closer to reaching next summer’s finals in North America. 

And with Denmark beating Greece 3-1 later in the evening, Clarke’s men have the insurance of a winner-takes-all shootout if they don’t qualify automatically by topping Group C.

However, their display was deeply unconvincing for the most part, with a section of the Hampden crowd booing them at full-time.

Clarke, who took charge of his 72nd match to set a new Scotland record as manager, was brutally honest following a nervy night for his team and the fans.

‘Performances don’t get you qualification,’ he said. ‘If you’d said at the start of this camp we’d come out with six points, everyone would’ve been really happy.

‘But, I have to be honest, tonight I was really, really disappointed in my team. I don’t think we got anywhere near the levels we can reach.

‘I’m going to have to have a good look at the two games. The first game [last Thursday’s 3-1 win over Greece], we dug in when it wasn’t going our way.

‘Tonight, the game was far too open and we didn’t control the game without the ball, and we weren’t good enough with the ball. That type of game shouldn’t be trickier for us. There’s no reason for that.

‘Against a lesser-ranked team, that’s the poorest performance we’ve had. It’s a head scratcher for me.

‘It’s possibly as disappointed as I’ve been over the whole 72 games. We just didn’t turn up. We got three points and that’s six points from the double-header so we’re really pleased about that, as everyone with a Scottish connection will be.

‘But the performance was way below par. Many times I’ve sat here saying how good they are and how they are a great group of lads. And they are. That doesn’t change. It doesn’t mean to say that, as their head coach, sometimes I can’t be disappointed in them. I’ve told them that in the dressing room, so they know what my feelings are.

‘I’ve got great faith in them and I trust them absolutely. I know that next month [for the final two games against Greece and Denmark] they’ll be a different animal.’

Belarus had a goal ruled out by VAR in the second half, with Scotland leading 1-0, and set up a tense ending when they made it 2-1 in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Asked if he felt the minnows could have taken something from the game, or whether nerves had played a part in Scotland’s performance, Clarke said: ‘Absolutely. If they get the goal at 1-1 and it stands, then I’m not sure we could have got back in front. But it was a foul.

‘I bummed the players up the other night about how we had 800 caps of experience on the pitch. How can they be nervous? Most of them have played in big games before. I don’t think you can blame nerves. If it’s nerves, I’ll need to speak to the doctor and see if he can find me some tablets to give them.

‘The anxiety in the stadium comes from the fact we didn’t start the game particularly well. We didn’t get control of the game. We have to take some responsibility for that.

‘If we’re more in control or if we look like we’re going to score, the crowd is less anxious. We’d love them to jump up and down and scream and get behind us.

‘They tried once or twice to give us a lift but it’s up to us to do that. Tonight we didn’t do enough to do that.’

Asked about the boos at full-time, he added: ‘That seems to be the way of the modern game. Everything now is instant. Everyone has a different opinion depending on how the game flows.

‘If the fans were disappointed with the performance tonight, they should take a little comfort in the fact the head coach was also disappointed.’

Scotland captain Andy Robertson admitted: ‘It doesn’t feel like a win at the minute and you can see that by our reaction at the end, which is hugely frustrating. The performance is nowhere near where we need it to be.

‘At the start of the week we would have taken the six points and we can look back in November at where we are but, currently walking off the pitch, it doesn’t feel good.

‘We gave them far too many chances. I don’t know if we were tired from Thursday night, we put a lot into that one, but that’s no excuse.

‘I didn’t quite understand (the fans’ reaction) last Thursday, but I understand it tonight.

‘We’ll take that on board but, come November, we’ve got the chance to go to a World Cup and that’s what we’re focused on.’