As Shaun Evans called time on Scotland’s abject defeat to Japan yesterday evening, sections of Hampden Park descended into a chorus of boos, a stark contrast from November’s euphoric triumph over the Danes.

Junya Ito provided the crucial blow, latching onto a loose ball in the Scotland penalty area, to consign the hosts to a 1-0 loss. With just three friendlies remaining before judgment day in Boston, the defeat stalled the momentum of Steve Clarke’s heroes.

Speaking at full-time, a typically stoic Clarke remained upbeat about his side’s performance.

“There’s a lot to take,” he said. “Obviously, there are one or two things we can do better.

“To lose it on the goal [we conceded] is disappointing. The game at that stage looked like it was going to peter out to a 0-0 draw.

“We made a mistake, probably tried to go forward too early, got caught, and they managed to score off it.

“I thought we defended well in the game against a very good side. They pop the ball around really well, and we knew they would cause us problems. I thought it would be a low-scoring game, and it was.

“Tommy did really well coming off the left side and didn’t do himself any harm tonight. I liked my midfield; my midfield was strong.

“We played a lot of good stuff, and I think we can be a bit more progressive to get to the top end of the pitch, but against top opposition sometimes that’s difficult.”

Kenny McLean sealed Scotland’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years, and saw the exercise against Japan as crucial experience ahead of the tournament.

“A disappointing result. It’s good to get these challenges, we’re trying to prepare as well as we can for a big summer ahead.”

“We’ll try to get better and that’s what we’ll try to do again on Tuesday. The shape was decent enough at times.

“The second half was a bit better out of possession, but I think we could have been a bit more threatening at the top end of the pitch.

“Japan are a really good team, they press you really well, but that’s what we’re going to come up against in the summer.

“There’s an expectation now, and we want those expectations on us. We want to reach a new level.”

Scotland travel to Merseyside on Tuesday to face the Ivory Coast at Everton’s gleaming new stadium. Though just a friendly, it feels necessary that Clarke’s reteam re-establish the momentum that pushed them to the Promised Land of the World Cup.