Gordon Strachan believes Scotland deserve to see their luck turn after a second successive 3-0 World Cup defeat.
The national coach refused to start discussing whether he will still be in charge when the qualifiers resume in March against Slovenia.
But, amid the gloom of a result that he described as “cruel” on a side that had put so much into the clash with England, there was a note of optimism struck by Strachan.
He said: “In life, if you put that work in, somewhere along the line the game has got to be good to you.”
Strachan added: “I’ve got to go away and have a wee look at it now and we have a debrief.
“Right now it’s hard to take in anything, it’s not the time to think about it.
“I’ll go and talk to my family and we’ll debrief with everybody else. The game was cruel to them (the players).
“If you think I’m thinking about myself, then you don’t know me. If you think I’m worried about myself, you’re completely wrong.
“It’s nothing to do with me. What I’ve got to think about everybody in that dressing room. They shouldn’t be down. I’m going to send them back (to their clubs) knowing they’ve given everything.
“Stewart Regan said to me he can’t believe it was 3-0 in Slovakia and 3-0 here.
“I have to think about all those guys in there who have been tremendous for me.
“Again tonight, okay we might not be the best in the world, but no one can talk about our passion.
“I am thinking tonight only about the players. Only about them.”
Strachan could see a game plan that was working in the first half and admitted that two spurned chances at the start of the second period before England doubled their lead was the decisive spell in the match.
He said: “To put that much work in to a game plan and to be brave and to try to meet England up the pitch, we let them have one chance in the first half which they scored form, and then to bring them in at half-time and I could see in their eyes they still believed and by sticking to what we were trying to do. That was hard to take.
“Then in the second half we got two chances and didn’t capitalise, they went up and got their second shot on target. After that it was going to be a long, long night. They stuck at it, and we were beaten again by a set play.
“When it gets to 3-0 the game is finished at that point. You can forget the last 15 minutes when England played keep-ball. Nothing against that, I would do that myself if we were 3-0 up and trying not to put in any tackles or anything like that.
“At this moment in time I feel really proud at the way they played, the way they went about their job. They had no fear about the way they went about their game. At the same time I feel really really hurt that they had to go through that last 15 minutes after putting in so much and believing in what we were trying to do.
“I’ve come here with a team that got beaten 3-0, 3-1 and literally didn’t have a shot at goal – funnily enough some of them are pundits now – but nothing like that tonight, that was a braver and more organised performance.
“They can go away with their families who turned up to watch them, and the supporters, and be proud of their performance. I don’t think I could ask any more in terms of what they have in their locker. You just need a wee break now and again or a wee bit of magic. I feel really down for the lads but proud of what they tried to do. “
