It promised to be a difficult night, for both fans and players, in midweek as Scotland attempted to shrug off their World Cup blues and focus on the start to the Nations League campaign.
With Armenia having already beaten the Republic of Ireland in Yerevan, there was the fear of a frustrating 90 minutes ahead, but the Scots were on the front foot from the off, and with the visitors showing no appetite to cross the halfway line for much of the match, it was as comfortable a 90 minutes as the national team has enjoyed in years.
Steve Clarke made half a dozen changes, and that was the correct call with the new men injecting a tempo and intensity the Armenians simply couldn’t match.
There were some outstanding individual contributions in what was a pleasing team performance, and Clarke will have some big decisions to make for the next couple of games.
He introduced an entirely fresh back three and the trio worked well together, with Scott McKenna in particular catching the eye, both in defence and in the Armenia box. It was fantastic to see him celebrate his 25th cap in style with his first international goal. When fit, Kieran Tierney will reclaim his place, but until then, I would hope Clarke will stick with those guys.
Andy Robertson was highlighted by the manager, but for me, Anthony Ralston was the man of the match.
Even before he opened the scoring, the Celtic defender had been prominent, and it was hard to believe it was his first start for the country.
His emergence over the past 10 months or so has been one of the big stories in Scottish football, and unless Nathan Patterson gets more game time with Everton, Ralston should now be first pick on the right.
We also had confirmation on Wednesday that Scotland work better with a lone striker supported from midfield.
I appreciate Armenia were a level or two down from Ukraine, but there was a vibrancy about the team going forward that had been missing the previous week, and with the quality we have in that area, it makes sense to utilise it to the full.
John McGinn was as busy as ever, and should have added to his goal tally, while Armstrong and Christie created plenty chances and pulled the opposition defence all over the place with their clever movement. Callum McGregor did what he does, but his contribution should never be underestimated.
We still have an issue up front – no Scotland striker has found the net this year – and I would have liked to see Ross Stewart given longer than the few minutes he was afforded.
I do not envisage the manager making anything like as many changes for this evening’s encounter in Dublin, but I would hope the Sunderland centre-forward is high in Clarke’s thoughts.
Given the run the Irish are on, this is a real opportunity to test Ross at international level; we need to know if he can make the step up, just as he has in club football.
With a double-header against Ukraine to come in September, the Scots probably need full points from this run of games, and if they can repeat the Armenia showing, I fully expect them to make it two wins out of two against Ireland.
Connor should be in no rush to leave
It has been some week for the Dons’ young stars with Calvin Ramsay and Connor Barron hitting the headlines, and the club’s under-14s returning triumphant from a prestigious youth tournament in Norway.
It was a remarkable achievement by the boys, and their results throughout the competition were hugely impressive.
Beating Liverpool in the semis and Leipzig in the final shows how talented the kids clearly are.
They will now be keen to emulate the impact made by Calvin and Connor. Barron was a rare shining light for Aberdeen last season, and it is no surprise Celtic are monitoring his progress, but it would be madness for him to move there at this stage of his career.
As for Ramsay, if a deal is agreed, joining Liverpool would be incredible after fewer than 30 first team starts. It will be a massive step-up, and he will have to bide his time, but it represents a brilliant piece of business for the Dons.
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