Scotland have bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup by beating Armenia in the UEFA Nations League on Wednesday night.
Last week, the Tartan Army suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Ukraine, the loss extending their absence from the World Cup to 24 years.
However, Steve Clarke's team responded in the best possible way, beginning their new Nations League campaign with a 2-0 victory against League B Group 1 minnows Armenia.
Anthony Ralston marked his debut with a headed goal, that opener being followed by another header from Scott McKenna, the Nottingham Forest defender also scoring his first international goal.
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Scotland sit at the top of the group on goal difference, but Ukraine have joined them on three points with a narrow 1-0 win against Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Stephen Kenny's team had been hoping to bounce back from their surprise defeat in Armenia on Saturday, but they again failed to get on the scoresheet.
The only goal of the game came in the 48th minute from Viktor Tsygankov, whose inswinging free kick found the far corner of the net after missing every player inside the penalty area.
Republic of Ireland remain at the bottom of the group having played a game more than each of Scotland and Ukraine, putting them at risk of relegation to the third tier.
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In League A Group 4, it was a disappointing evening for Wales, who failed to back up their World Cup qualification as they fell to a dramatic 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands.
Rob Page unsurprisingly made seven changes to the team which edged out Ukraine at the weekend, and their more illustrious opponents capitalised by taking the lead through Teun Koopmeiners early after the restart.
However, Wales found an equaliser in the second minute of added-on time, Rhys Norrington-Davies capping a strong individual performance with his first goal for his country.
Netherlands still found time to respond, though, as Wout Weghorst sent a diving header towards the top corner in the 94th minute to condemn the Dragons to a second successive Nations League defeat.
Darren Plant
