Scott McTominays late double adds the gloss as Scotland sink Cyprus

Scotland will face far sterner tests, namely on Tuesday when Spain visit Hampden Park. One also hopes supporters will be rewarded with a higher level of entertainment than was on offer during this turgid encounter with Cyprus.

Still, Steve Clarke will glean solace from that rare Scottish event of a winning start to a qualifying campaign. There was a clean sheet, too, for the debutant goalkeeper Angus Gunn. In truth, the Norwich City custodian had precious little to do before Andronikos Kakoullis fired a deflected shot into his gloves five minutes from time. One goal always looked like it would be enough for Scotland but the substitute Scott McTominay added gloss to the scoreline with two strikes in the dying embers of the game.