Scotland have enough mental strength to make sure Ukraine defeat won't leave scars

Stuart Armstrong insists Scotland possess the mental strength and unity of purpose required to ensure they suffer no long-lasting effects from the shattering blow of their World Cup elimination.

Steve Clarke’s squad can ill afford to mope about the substandard display which saw them lose 3-1 at home to Ukraine in the play-off semi-final, stretching the nation’s absence from the World Cup finals to at least 28 years.

Scotland return to Hampden next Wednesday when they open their UEFA Nations League campaign against Armenia, quickly followed by further Group B1 fixtures against Republic of Ireland in Dublin on June 11 and the Armenians in Yerevan on June 14.

With the Nations League again providing group winners with a guaranteed place in the play-offs for Euro 2024 in Germany, the significance of the matches is not lost on Armstrong and his team-mates who qualified for the Euro 2020 finals by that route.

The Southampton midfielder has no doubts about their ability to refocus quickly and make a positive start to the four-team Nations League group which also includes Ukraine.

“No, it won’t be difficult to lift ourselves for these games,” said Armstrong. “We’re used to having a lot of fixtures and sometimes they don’t go the way you wanted them to.

“On the pitch, it’s about mentality and this is a strong group of players with strong characters. There’s a lot of togetherness in that dressing room. We’ll learn from this and move forward. We know the importance of these Nations League games.

“Of course, Wednesday night against Ukraine was a big disappointment. We’ve been thinking about the game, trying to get it out of our minds and learn from it.

“Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll look forward to the games coming up because we do