Clarke believes Scotland 'deserved something' following defeat to Portugal

Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.

Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.

Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.

It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.

"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.

"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.

"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.

"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."

Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.

The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.

"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.

"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.

"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."

Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.

"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.

"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.

"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.

"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."