Clarke insists his Scots deserved to take something from Lisbon after Ronaldo’s late goal sealed Portugal’s comeback

Steve Clarke insisted Scotland had no reason to blame themselves despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s heavy blow in Portugal.

The five-time Ballon D’Or winner scored his 901st career goal with the winning goal in the 88th minute as the Scots suffered a 2-1 defeat in the Nations League.

Scott McTominay had silenced the home crowd with a superb header after seven minutes, his tenth goal in his last 17 international matches.

Goalkeeper Angus Gunn was denied an equaliser by Bruno Fernandes early in the second half and although he made some fine saves, he was beaten by Ronaldo, who came on as a half-time substitute.

Ronaldo claimed his players deserved much more for United against Celtic and Rangers, but he had never scored against a Scottish team. Clarke could only watch in despair as he secured this comeback victory after coming on as a half-time substitute.

Clarke had mixed feelings on a night when his team gave him everything but fell short

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his 901st career goal in the usual way

Scotland captain Andy Robertson praises travelling support after another defeat

“I’m disappointed to have lost a game when for a long time it looked like we were going to get something out of it,” said the Scotland manager.

‘I’m very disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something out of the game.

‘I have made it clear to my players again that we need to understand what part of the cycle we are in and what we are trying to build.

“We’re trying to adapt after the summer. We can lose these games to try to build up and make sure that the end goal, as always, is to qualify for the tournament.

‘It would be nice to get some points, it would be nice not to concede late goals, but this is the level we are at. The players understand how difficult it is to get results at this level.

‘If you ignore the results (there are many positives), but we are professional, then it is disappointing.

“We played well in these two games, but we didn’t get anything in return. I told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work we do.

Gunn congratulates opponent Diogo Costa after busy goalscoring night for Scotland

‘We will analyse these games and hopefully we can give the boys some tips for the games next month, which will not be any easier.

“When you bring quality players off the bench like Roberto (Martinez) can do, you always know there’s a risk. But I thought we handled it well. With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one can end up in the net and that’s what happened to us.”

There were certainly positives to be taken from the match, but ultimately Clarke’s team are bottom of the group with zero points from two games.

Their next opponents, Croatia, defeated Poland 1-0 in Osijek last night thanks to a stunning free-kick from Real Madrid superstar Luka Modric in the second half.