Scotland boss Craig Levein insists he sees 'progression' after Serbia draw

Scotland manager Craig Levein expressed his disappointment after being forced to settle for a goalless draw against Serbia, but insisted his side are moving forward.

The Scots had been hoping for maximum points from their opening two World Cup qualifying games, but a series of missed opportunities meant Serbia returned home from Hampden with a share of the spoils.

Speaking after the match, Levein said: “It was going to be difficult to get a victory today. We acknowledged that and we didn't manage to get the three points.

"I'm disappointed but more about the fact that we had opportunities and didn't take them. The upside for me is that we had a number of players today who, although they played well, can play an awful lot better so there is encouragement as well.

"Nothing has changed. In fact, I'm more confident now than I was before the match.

“I'm disappointed we didn't win but I saw the chances we created, I look at the opportunities we had to hit Serbia in the areas where we knew they were weak and I could count half a dozen times when we just didn't play almost a simple pass to put people through on goal.

"That won't happen again. Our guys will improve in that regard and that gives me encouragement that we're going to be better on Tuesday."

Scotland now face Macedonia on Tuesday in what many are labeling a must-win game, despite being only the second game of the qualifying campaign to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

When asked whether he agreed with this, Levein said: “Probably, yes. Certainly it would be beneficial to win the game on Tuesday.

"We wanted to win today as well and we did enough to win the game, we just didn't score the goals. That's football. We have played teams of a similar standard to Serbia before and didn't have enough possession and chances.

"We have moved forward enormously in that regard. I see a huge progression.

"I'm disappointed but I'm not down about it. The lads put on a decent show today. I thought we deserved to win the game.

"The over-riding feeling is disappointment but it's a point, it's us off to a start, and it's an opportunity to look to Tuesday and try to take it up to four points."

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