George Burley was upbeat despite seeing his Scotland side open their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Macedonia. On a sweltering day in Skopje, an early strike from Ilcho Naumoski after Craig Gordon had tipped Goce Sedloski's free-kick onto the post was the difference between the sides.

Scotland improved during the second half and both Kenny Miller and James McFadden had strong shouts for a penalty which fell on deaf ears.

Despite the poor result, Burley was generally pleased with the Scottish performance.

"I'm disappointed to lose, but overall in the second half I thought the players showed a lot of courage, spirit and quality, and deserved something out of the game.

"We needed a break off the ball - all the players said it was a stonewall penalty," added Burley