Steve Clarke craving a "quiet beer" after 'disappointing' Scotland win over Belarus in World Cup qualifier

Steve Clarke has struggled to hide his disappointment after Scotland almost let slip a comfortable lead over Belarus in Sunday's World Cup qualifier.

The Tartan Army went into the game at Hampden Park knowing that there was potential for three points moving them to the brink of earning a playoff spot as a bare minimum.

Scotland ultimately came through by a 2-1 scoreline as goals from Che Adams and Scott McTominay put their nation 2-0 ahead before a late consolation from Gleb Kuchko.

As a result, Greece need to avoid defeat to Denmark on Sunday night to prevent Scotland from moving two playoff wins away from reaching their World Cup Finals since 1998.

Nevertheless, speaking to BBC Sport, Clarke was furious with how Scotland failed to convincingly see off opponents who they dominated during the first half.

'Maybe I will have a quiet beer'

Although the three-day turnaround from the win over Greece could be used as a potential excuse, Clarke refused to accept that as a reason for the slow conclusion.

He said: "There's very little preparation between the first and second game, in terms of being on the grass. There's not much you can do in there.

"We looked at all their recent games, when they played us it was a 5-3-2. They played Greece away with a similar system. Against Denmark they did the same.

"Tonight, they came and had a go, pressed us high up the pitch. Their press was good. I would expect our players to be able to handle that pressure, get on the ball, dictate the tempo. We didn't do that. They dictated it all night.

"I haven't given [the record] a thought. I'm just standing here really disappointed. Maybe I'll go back to the hotel and have a quiet beer.

"We've had some great moments, and some quite disappointing moments. What we are is quite resilient, we can come back from a down. I'm confident in this group of players, that when it comes to the crunch we'll be ready."

What next for Scotland?

Scotland's closing fixtures of their World Cup qualification group are a trip to play Greece on November 15 and a home game against Denmark on November 18.

The importance of those matches is yet to be determined, but Denmark beating Greece on Sunday would leave them on 10 points alongside Scotland.

However, Denmark possess a vastly superior goal difference to Clarke's side, which may effectively leave Scotland needing to win both of their final two matches to earn automatic qualification.