Steve Clarke makes no Scotland excuses as he salutes 'realistic' fans after Armenia battle

Steve Clarke insists Scotland achieved a triumph over adversity in Armenia after revealing his players were dead on their feet trying to restore pride in their country.

The dark blues boss was delighted with the spirt of his side after recovering from going a goal down to the minnows and going on to blow them away with a stunning Stuart Armstrong double and long-overdue strikes from Che Adams and John McGinn.

Armenia finished the game with nine men after an ill-disciplined display and Clarke believes the 3,300 mile long-haul flight and a recent punishing schedule has taking a heavy toll on his team and he's refused to offer them up as excuses for recent losses to Ukraine and Ireland.

He said: "We started the game slowly, there was a reaction to the long journey and the flight. There’s a lot of fatigue in the players’ legs that we haven’t really spoken about too much, because we don’t want to be seen to be making excuses. But it was there and they got in behind us and the players showed great character to come back.

“It was a difficult schedule for the players. It was difficult, but we haven't made excuses until now. There's no excuses for the two games that we lost. Two wins against Armenia are not going to make this international camp a good camp, because it wasn't.

"We failed on our primary objective – to get to the World Cup. We failed on that and we had a really bad performance in Dublin, which put us on the back foot again. It's nice to bounce back but there is work to do."

Clarke heaped praise on his three goal scorers and intends to regroup after the summer and launch a bid to top the Nations League table.

He said: "I’m delighted for Stuart, Che Adams and John McGinn – the three players we put in forward