SNS GroupSkipper Andy Robertson struggled to understand Scotland’s lacklustre display in the damaging 2-1 defeat by Slovenia at Barclays Hampden.
In the final of four Nations League Group B1 fixtures during this elongated international break under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli, Ryan Christie gave the Scots the lead from close range in the 31st minute after surviving some early scares.
However, Aljosa Matko levelled in the 56th minute before setting up Danijel Sturm for a second in the 71st minute for a deserved win for the visitors.
With a double-header against group makeweights North Macedonia and section leaders Switzerland to come next month, the Scots are in third place with four points, three behind Slovenia and eight points behind the Swiss.
Before the game Robertson was presented with a framed shirt by his former Scotland managers Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan and Steve Clarke, and Pocognoli, to commemorate his 100th cap in the 2-0 win at North Macedonia on Saturday.
However, following the dismal defeat he dismissed the idea that the performance was in any way down to teething problems of the new regime.
The Tottenham left-back said: “I think that’s an easy excuse, to be honest.
“We’ve been away for two and a half weeks and I know it’s going to take the manager time, it’s not going to be perfect.
“But I just felt as if they wanted it more than us and I think whoever’s the manager, at the end of the day, the players are on the pitch.
“They had the exact same schedule as us, they’ve played the exact same games as us and I thought we looked a lot more tired mentally and physically.
“And that’s where, that’s where I struggle, because I know that it’s not going to be perfect.
“Macedonia wasn’t perfect under the manager, but there was certainly a lot of good stuff and we have to give the manager time.
“So, I definitely think this performance and these results, is on the players on the pitch. There’s a lot of frustration.
“Obviously, you had a really good performance away from home on Saturday and then you want to kind of try and continue that under a new manager.
“I think everything we’ve done well on Saturday we didn’t do tonight.”
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