World Cup qualifying: Can mournful Scotland rouse themselves for finale?

When McTominay smashed in Scotland’s second six minutes before the end, he ran away with the nonchalance of a man who was adding a cherry on top of a rich performance instead of settling nerves at the end of a massively fractious game.

In scoring the 13th goal of his international career, McTominay displayed a cool that belied the stress, but it didn’t last and nor did it deserve to last.

Belarus had more attempts on Scotland’s goal than Scotland had on theirs – and when Hleb Kuchko nipped in ahead of Robertson to make it 2-1, it was deserved.

You could argue that they deserved more. A draw would have been a fairer outcome. An away win would not have been a robbery.

Central to the deal when you come to Hampden is the possibility of palpitations, dizziness and nausea – and so it was again on Sunday.

Some of the chat leading up to this game involved the gallows humour so close to the heart of most members of the Tartan Army.

Having put themselves into a highly promising position, with seven points from nine, including a miraculous escape against the Greeks, the fatalists spoke of how typical it would be if Scotland struggled against the weakest team in the group.

This was, in many ways, a continuation of the fretfulness of Thursday, but against an opponent that had only a scintilla of Greece’s ability.

Belarus are point-less and goalless in the campaign. Nobody really thought this would turn into such a horrible experience, but they spoke about the possibility nonetheless, teased themselves with the potential horror of it all.

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