Ryan Fraser believes Scotland were given a “footballing lesson” by Belgium in their 3-0 European Championship qualifying defeat on Tuesday night but he remains positive.
The Scots were holding out at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels until just before the break when striker Romelu Lukaku headed in a cross from skipper Eden Hazard.
The Manchester United striker grabbed a second in the 57th minute and Manchester City attacker Kevin De Bruyne added a third for the world number one-ranked side, who now have four Group I wins out of four.
Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, centre, celebrates scoring his side’s second goal against Scotland (Bradley Collyer/PA)
It was Steve Clarke’s second game as Scotland boss following the 2-1 win over Cyprus at Hampden Park on Saturday night and Bournemouth wide-man Fraser, who came on for Stuart Armstrong in the first half, noted the different quality of opposition as the Scots now face a double-header at the national stadium against Russia and Belgium in September.
“The big game was obviously Cyprus and getting the win,” Fraser, 25, told STV.
“Last night was a learning curve.
“Coming up against number one in the world is never easy and we did get shown a footballing lesson, I am not going to lie.
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“But at the same time, maybe in the last couple of years we might have been beaten by a far bigger scoreline and looked a little bit more shaky.
"There has been some real enthusiam about the place."— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 11, 2019
“We got the big one out of the way, which was Cyprus.
“At 2-0, if we had scored that chance it could have been different but that’s football for you.
“We have to take the positives and build on it.
“The next two games are going to be massive. The one against Russia is a must-win for us to try to gain the points back.
“I am sure he (Clarke) will get the foundations right and we will go for the win.”
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