Scotland manager Gordon Strachan admitted his side need to cut out the mistakes in defence after two quickfire goals cost them in a second World Cup qualifier in a week.
The Scots had improved after a slow start against Serbia in Novi Sad last night and Jordan Rhodes passed up a half chance before Filip Duricic netted twice to give the home side a 2-0 victory.
Alan Hutton was caught out with a ball over his head before the opener and Gary Caldwell soon made an inexplicable decision to pass to the right-back instead of clearing to safety as Scotland gifted Serbia a second goal.
The result left Scotland bottom of Group A and followed on from a 2-1 defeat by Wales, when the visitors scored twice in 84 seconds.
Strachan said: “When it’s 1-0 you have always got a chance of winning but it seems to happen too often that when one goal comes, a second follows.
“The same thing happened on Friday so if we lose a goal we really need to see that the game’s not finished.”
He added: “There’s a time in international football the players have to be told. It’s a shame for everyone who makes a mistake after putting a lot of good work in. It’s not dishonest mistakes.”
There was no realistic chance of Scotland going to Brazil before the game, but last night officially saw them crash out of the World Cup after Group A pace-setters Belgium and Croatia both won.
The Scots have just two points from six games following four consecutive defeats but Strachan denied his task was bigger than he initially imagined.
“It was heavy going and I thought technically they were a good side and physically they were stronger than us,” he said. “But one thing is they didn’t have bigger hearts than us.
“Some out there have not played internationals before, some were playing with injuries, some of them are not getting games for their club. But they took responsibility on their shoulders.”
Strachan added: “It’s easy to work on people who are good people. It’s not a quick fix to get as strong and as technically gifted as that. But there’s lots of things I know I can work on.”
Debutant Liam Bridcutt refused to be disheartened.
The 23-year-old said: “It’s always great to make your first appearance and get my first cap.
“This is a great learning curve for me. You always want to progress in your career and the only way you are going to progress is playing games like this.
“Gordon (Strachan) has given me a great opportunity to show what I can do. I tried to do my best for the team.”
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