Coach Billy Stark believes youngster Ryan Gauld proved he can handle the step up to the Scotland Under-21s by impressing on his debut against Georgia.
The 17-year-old Dundee United playmaker had earned his first call-up to the squad thanks to his fine club form and was drafted straight into the side for Thursday night’s European Championship qualifier in Paisley.
And Stark says the teenager did not look out of place as the Scots fought back from behind to claim a 1-1 draw.
He said: “Ryan Gauld took to it like a duck to water. He was a young lad in there but you would never have known it.
“He certainly doesn’t lack belief or confidence in himself, that’s for sure.
“But I think, as he gets older, he will demand and dictate games.
“For wee spells in this game we lost him, not through any fault of his own. It’s about how the team functions and we have to get him on the ball more.
“He skipped through the midfield and got us into some threatening positions.”
Stark also singled out Celtic’s Stuart Findlay for praise, adding: “I thought Stuart Findlay was immense against real top quality players.
“He showed what a good player he is and it was a great experience for the younger ones.”
Stark believes his side still have a realistic chance of qualifying despite dropping points at home for the first time in the campaign.
Callum Paterson came off the bench to grab a late leveller, after Giorgi Chanturia fired Georgia into the lead in the first half.
The result keeps Scotland level with the Georgians on seven points, with Group 3 joint leaders Holland and Slovakia out in front on 10 points after their game also ended all square.
Stark said: “At the moment, 16 points is still gettable for us and that means you have a chance of qualifying.
“It’s a really tough group. We have seen the quality of Slovakia and we have seen the quality of Georgia and we are cutting each other up a bit.
“We have a tough fixture against Holland in our next game but, if we can win that, we go into the last two games with optimism, albeit we won’t underestimate the task of beating Holland here.
“We just have to show a bit more belief in ourselves.”
He added: “If I’m being honest, I can’t say it’s a game we definitely should have won but we kept at it in the second half.
“For me, the important thing was keeping an unbeaten home record in the qualifiers and that’s a real positive to take out of it.”