Perhaps it was a measure of far the country has come in recent times. Or perhaps it was just his competitive nature.
Whatever it was, Scotland manager Gordon Strachan could not hide his disappointment after watching his side suffer just their second loss in 12 games.
Sure, the fact that it was England who did the damage and on Scottish soil at that would have particularly stuck in Strachan’s craw, but the Scotland boss clearly wanted to give the nation something more to shout about at Celtic Park.
One has to go back to the 2-0 defeat to Belgium at Hampden Park on September 6, 2013, for the last time the Tartan Army tasted defeat at home, but goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a double from Wayne Rooney helped England to a 3-1 victory.
There was a high point for Scotland and Dundee United fans in particular as Andrew Robertson’s first international goal set up by former Tangerines star Johnny Russell during an impressive cameo gave the Scots a glimmer of hope late on, but that was snuffed out within a matter of minutes as England wrapped up a fairly comfortable win in the end.
“When we met 10 days ago the point of the exercise was getting three points against the Republic, which we did,” he said.
“When you look at the game tonight and analyse it because you want to win it, I thought the intensity and the pace England played without the ball was fantastic, and it kind of spooked our players a bit.”
Russell and ex-St Johnstone striker Stevie May were handed caps in the second half, and Strachan said their efforts were encouraging late on.
“They did all right,” he continued. “But they are coming from Championship football playing against Champions League players and it is a big step up.”
England boss Roy Hodgson was delighted with the manner of his win.
“I thought we set out our intentions early on and I thought some of the attacking movements early on was good,” he said.
“You can’t ask for much more than that where you are playing away from home in a very supportive atmosphere for Scotland, and we managed to quieten the fans which we wanted to do.”
For more from Craig Smith at Celtic Park, see Wednesday’s Courier.