The bad news continues for Steve Clarke and Scotland. Just when it looked like the damage done during a dreadful Euro 2024 – and here in the first half – was being repaired, Poland snatched a victory in the 97th minute, Grant Hanley’s lunge triggering a penalty that only added to the Scottish team’s dejection.

Up to that point, even extending the run to one win in 13 games seemed unimportant. Clarke’s team had recovered from a two-goal deficit at half-time to level the scores. The main problem with what happened next was that this always seemed to be the easiest of Scotland’s Nations League games.

Clarke had used his pre-match media presence to claim that an evolution of his team was far more feasible than a revolution. Fans, angered by Scotland’s performance in Germany, wanted the latter – at least in terms of attitude, if not personnel. The low atmosphere around kick-off suggested that those in the stands were unsure about Clarke’s approach to a fresh start. Fans want new heroes, young heroes, and they want them now. The most striking aspect was the switch to a back four, as Clarke had normally preferred a back three.

The Scottish manager is largely limited by the resources available. The starting eleven consisted of three Norwich players. Central attacker Lyndon Dykes has just moved to Birmingham in League One. Promotion to the top tier of the Nations League was always going to be dangerous, simply because the Scots will face far superior teams.

What Clarke absolutely did not need was that damaging start. Billy Gilmour was robbed by Kacper Urbanski – Kenny McLean’s pass to Gilmour was not particularly clever – and Robert Lewandowski was the next to receive the ball.

Poland’s legendary striker fed Sebastian Szymanski, whose low shot from 25 yards flew over Angus Gunn’s left post. Gunn may feel he could have done better, but the Fenerbahce midfielder had far too much space to set up his shot. Aside from a vociferous Polish group, Hampden let out a collective sigh.

It took 20 minutes for the hosts to launch a serious attack. Scott McTominay shot over the bar after a pass from Ryan Christie. Scotland’s biggest problem was losing possession, as Poland was allowed to move the ball too quickly between the thirds.

McTominay thought he had equalised midway through the half but his poor effort was disallowed for handball. The Napoli man had outpaced the Polish defence to take a free kick from Andy Robertson, who is now only the seventh Scottish player to win 75 caps.

Scotland had actually shown promise before the visitors doubled their lead. McTominay had attackers in position but was unable to find them with a back pass. Dykes, superbly found by Robertson at the back post, missed his shot on goal. The waste would soon prove costly.

Anthony Ralston, Scotland’s best player up to that point, kicked Nicola Zalewski on the back of the foot as the full-back started to kick. Lewandowski, not surprisingly, did the rest from 12 metres out, scoring his 84th international goal. The fact that Scotland had not really deserved to be two goals behind seemed somehow irrelevant. The tale of suffering continued. The half-time whistle was accompanied by boos.

It took just 23 seconds of the second half for Scotland to get some much-needed hope. Poland failed to clear a cross from Dykes convincingly, allowing Christie to put the ball back into the path of Gilmour. The midfielder fired his second career goal past Marcin Bulka. After a lengthy VAR review – it was unclear what for – the counterattack was right. Scotland had the ball.

Przemysław Szyminski almost restored Poland’s two-goal lead when he shot a superb long-range shot just wide of Gunn’s post. Clarke turned the ball over and slotted in Ben Doak, Ryan Gauld and Lawrence Shankland.

The move paid off immediately. Doak played the raging Ralston, who laid back for McTominay. The former Manchester United player equalised from just five metres out with ease. The decisive factor was that the spirit of this Scottish team was intact. It was broken when Hanley fouled Zalewski. The same player scored his penalty through Gunn. For the Scots, it was the latest in a long series of painful episodes.