Scotland 1-1 Israel: Steve Clarke says 'good outweighed the bad'
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'Some good things, some things to work on' for Scotland - Steve Clarke
"The good outweighed the bad" for Scotland in their Nations League draw with Israel, says manager Steve Clarke.
The Scots led 1-0 through Ryan Christie's first-half penalty, but Eran Zahavi's 73rd-minute strike levelled matters at an empty Hampden.
Czech Republic lead the group after their win in Slovakia, but Scotland's game in Olomouc on Monday has been called off amid Covid concerns.
"We went to asleep on a throw-in and got punished for it," Clarke said.
"There were some good things, and some things we have to work on. When you take into consideration it's been three training sessions, I thought the good outweighed the bad."
Having lined up in a 4-3-3 in Scotland's previous three matches - a hat trick of wins towards the end of 2019 - Clarke chose a 3-5-2 with Kieran Tierney at left centre-back and Andy Robertson at wing-back.
Despite Scotland struggling to create opportunities, the manager said he "thought the system worked".
"You want to have a couple of systems up your sleeve," he added. "You want to be flexible.
"The Israelis play with a back three and I thought tonight was a good chance to look at playing with a three. I thought we did okay.
"There's a lot of things that we have to work on, a lot of things that we have to get better, especially offensively. But the defensive work, the way the team shaped up, I thought was decent."
'Scotland have big problems'- analysis
Former Scotland defender Willie Miller on Sportsound
It was an awful performance. Israel controlled the game for vast periods and we didn't get close to them. We were passengers. We were bystanders. There weren't any fans in the ground but our players were like spectators.
We've got players that should be playing better. We've got big problems. I can't possibly see us being as timid as we were, surely. If you're going to go down, go down fighting.
Former Scotland striker Billy Dodds on Sportsound
It'll certainly enhance Israel's confidence that they can get through the European Championship play-off. There's plenty to think about for Stevie Clarke.
He's a patient man. He's going to have to be patient if he's going to work at that system. If we go with that system again against Israel, they beat us.