STEVE Clarke last night hailed Billy Gilmour for his outstanding display in Scotland’s 0-0 draw with Euro 2020 rivals England at Wembley – but insisted that Stephen O’Donnell had still outperformed the youngster.

Andy Robertson and his team mates put the disappointment of their 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic in their opening Group D match firmly behind them in London.

The national team rode their luck at times in their second game – John Stones hit the post in the first-half and David Marshall saved a goal-bound Mason Mount shot in the second.

However, Clarke, who brought in Che Adams, Gilmour, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and move Scott McTominay, was delighted with his side’s display at the result.

Scotland remain in joint bottom spot in their section – but the four best third-placed sides go through to the last 16 and they can progress to the knockout rounds if they beat Croatia at Hampden on Tuesday night. 

Clarke was pleased with how Gilmour, the Chelsea youngster who had never played, never mind started, a competitive match for his country before, performed in difficult circumstances against the joint tournament favourites.

The 20-year-old from Ayrshire was named Man of the Match at the end of the 90 minutes.

However, he still felt that Motherwell defender Stephen O’Donnell, who had been savaged by many media pundits and members of the Tartan Army following the Czech reverse, had been his best player.

And the former Newcastle United, Chelsea and Liverpool assistant revealed that the criticism that his players had received in the wake of their opening loss had spurred them on.

“I am proud of them and I am pleased for them as well,” he said. “We got criticised a little bit too much after the first game against the Czech Republic game.

“The motivating factor was to get something out of the game so we could go into the last game with the chance to get out of the group.

“I’m proud of them and pleased for them as well because they got criticised a little bit too much after the result on Monday against the Czech Republic - not the performance,” he said.

“We’ve been improving for a long time so it was nice to see on the pitch. We defended well but the most pleasing aspect was how well we played.

“The criticism wasn’t a motivating factor. The motivating factor was to get something out of the game so that we can go into the last game with a chance of qualifying out of the group.”

Clarke added: “We played well. Obviously we had to be solid defensively, we had to work really hard when England had the ball to stop them creating the chances that they always create.

“So that side of it was pleasing but it was also pleasing to see us playing out from the back and through the midfield. At times we played a lot of good football and it was nice to see.”

Asked specifically about Gilmour, Clarke said: I thought Stephen O’Donnell was exceptional. And Billy was just behind him. It was nice of Billy to get that start, big platform, big stage, big player Billy.

“We’ve said for a long time he was part of the future of Scottish football. We know what we’ve got in the camp and we will try to manage him properly and keep a lid on things. Performances like that will do him no harm whatsoever.

“I’m pleased for everybody, all my players and all my staff. It was a little bit unfair some of the stuff that came our way after Monday’s result. Not Monday’s performance, but Monday’s result. I’m pleased for them.

“The objective tonight was to get something out of the game so we went into the last game with a genuine chance of getting something out of the group and that’s what we’ve done so we’re pleased with that.”

Asked why he had made four changes to his team, Clarke said: “Getting Kieran back into the back three, and Scott, gives us the platform to build from the back and play football from the back.

“Billy and Callum in midfield are both good footballers. We knew we couldn’t come here and just sit in and defend for 95 minutes or whatever the game was going to be.

“We knew we had the ball we had to try and take care of it and create our own chances and that’s what we managed to do.

“I don’t think there is any risk when you have somebody of Billy Gilmour’s talent. When you put him on the pitch you expect him to do what he did.

"He held the ball for us and allowed us to play through the midfield.  I didn’t think it was a risk for the balance of the rest of the team.  We were ready to support Billy in his role and I think we did that.

“Everyone has praised Billy but we need to look at the team performance. There are a lot of good people around and that supported Billy.  It was great to see him get through 70 odd minutes on his first start.  

"I have said for the last year that Billy will be a big part of the future of Scotland.  We will try to take care of him and make sure he is a big player in the future.”