Scotland 1-0 Qatar

Matt Ritchie (right) scored the only goal

Scotland warmed up for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland with a comfortable win over Qatar thanks to a Matt Ritchie strike.

Ritchie's first international goal late in the first half proved to be the difference between the sides.

But, in a match played at a tempo befitting the friendly billing, Scotland goalkeepers David Marshall and Craig Gordon were scarcely tested.

The Scots were, though, able to get a little more sharpness into their legs.

With the game in Dublin little over a week away, perhaps the most satisfying aspect for Scotland manager Gordon Strachan would be the ease with which Charlie Mulgrew came through 90 minutes in the centre of defence having missed most of the previous five months through injury.

Strachan could be tempted to use the versatile Celtic player in the same role in the Aviva Stadium, given the relative paucity of alternatives.

There were also impressive displays from Craig Forsyth and Ritchie, while substitute Charlie Adam produced a couple of passes of tremendous vision and weight, in keeping with his recent excellent form for Stoke City.

As the game progressed and became more fragmented with multiple substitutions on both sides, Scotland's shape and passing became more ragged, but generally Strachan will feel the game served its purpose.

Scotland's choice of opponents may have caused controversy because of their country's human rights record, but the Scotland manager simply required a reasonable test of his side's abilities and that is what Qatar provided.

Scotland captain Scott Brown received the Qatar Airways Cup for the victory

They perhaps should have won more emphatically, but the goal they did score was an impressive strike from the Bournemouth winger.

Steven Naismith powered forward and poked a pass towards James McArthur. Ahmed Yasser intercepted only for the ball to fall nicely into Ritchie's path and, from 20 yards, he drove it low past Amine Lecomte.

That more than made up for his earlier miss, when he'd volleyed wide from a good position.

Had Mulgrew not headed wide from a similarly promising opening, Scotland would have been cruising before the break, with Naismith also unfortunate to have a stoppage-time effort come off the post.

The talismanic Naismith was denied by a brilliant Abdelkarim Hassan challenge shortly after the break and, happily for Scotland, he recovered from a nasty-looking bump to the chest incurred in the same incident.

Further chances fell to Johnny Russell, but the first was well saved, the second badly missed, while another second-half replacement, Leigh Griffiths, was correctly flagged offside as he tapped in late on.

Anything other than a Scotland victory would have been hard to take, with a thunderous free-kick from Hassan Al Haidos, which was safely held by Marshall, and a shot by the same Qatari player, which substitute Gordon turned round the post, the sum total of the threat to Scotland's goal.

The attentions of the Scotland players and management team now turn immediately to the more serious business of Euro 2016 qualifying and that crucial match in Dublin.

The match against Qatar was controversial because of the Middle East country's human rights record

Matt Ritchie scored after 40 minutes at Easter Road in Edinburgh

Scotland striker Steven Naismith recovered after suffering a chest injury

Charlie Adam was back in the Scotland side as a second-half substitute