Scott Bain Horror opening to the Celtic goalkeeper’s first start for his country, as he fished the ball out his net twice in the first ten minutes. No real chance with the first or the third, and might have been out smarter for the second, but tipped a Kuat long ranger over. 5
Liam Palmer Long-awaited debut for the Sheffield Wednesday man, who has been part of the Scotland set-up since Under-19 level. Heavily involved immediately as he good ground down the right but hardly a success story. 5
David Bates. The Hamburg defender got the nod ahead of Stuart Findlay. While the right side of the defence was better than the left, the Scots struggled to build from the back as their manager intended. Nodded a half-chance wide after 20 minutes but generally struggled. 4
Scott McKenna. Straight, high balls are the Aberdeen man’s meat and drink from the Scottish leagues so how could he be so troubled by them here. Tried to hold a high line but it wasn’t doing us any favours and outjumped for the third. 4
Graeme Shinnie. Thrust back into a left-back spot which he hasn’t graced for quite some time due to the Kieran Tierney’s hip problem and Andy Robertson’s dental work. It showed as he essentially dropped runners for all three goals. Booked for a tackle which might have seen red. 3
Stuart Armstrong. A regular for Southampton this season, Armstrong was the best of Scotland’s midfielders. A regular marauder into Kazakh territory, he used the ball intelligently and even got our first shot on target, in the 55th minute. 6
Callum McGregor. Proud moment as the Celtic man captained his country for the first time but soon had his work cut out. Scotland’s deepest midfielder as they looked to build from the back but not able to influence things as he would have liked. 5
John McGinn. Plenty of defensive graft and interceptions but almost never on the ball as a creative force as he can be at Aston Villa. Off target with a looping header at the far post, and saw a strike deflected over. 4
Oliver Burke. Plenty of chances to get into his stride down that left-hand side, even if it is a different role to the one he has been playing at Celtic. Final ball wasn’t up to scratch. 4
Oliver McBurnie. Minus a raft of striking options, Scotland longed for the Swansea City striker to recapture his prolific club form but he was unable to give a Kazakh backline anything to worry about here. 4
James Forrest. Vacated the width to roam into a striker’s role, almost getting on the end of an Armstrong cross. One tame finish in the second half, but generally a shadow of the man who booked Scotland’s Nations League play-off spot with a hat-trick against Israel. 4
Substitutes:
Johnny Russell (for McBurnie 61). The MLS based winger played off the right as Scotland hoped for any chink of light going but things didn’t get much better. 3
Scott McTominay (for McGinn 69). A stand-out for Manchester United in the Champions League in Paris, it wasn’t enough for a start here. The game had gone by the time we saw him. 3
Marc McNulty (for Forrest 81) Not exactly the circumstances the Hibs striker would have chosen to make his debut. No time to get involved. 2
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