How the Scotland players rated in Saturday's 2-1 away win over Cyprus.
DAVID MARSHALL: 6 Couple of decent stops in first half, but no chance as Efrem volleyed a stunner into the top corner just after the break.
LIAM PALMER: 6 Sheffield Wednesday man acquitted himself well at right-back. Good shift.
DECLAN GALLAGHER: 6 Given a debut at the heart of defence and can be pleased with his showing. Headed clearance volleyed in by Efrem for equaliser, but little culpability on the defender’s part. Dominant in air.
SCOTT MCKENNA: 6 Gave away a needless free-kick and picked up booking, a mistake that was compounded as Cyprus equalised from the resultant set-piece. Was ok otherwise, but needs to stamp out silly concession of fouls in dangerous areas.
GREG TAYLOR: 7 His lack of game-time at Celtic didn’t show here as he proved an able stand-in for Andy Robertson. It was his cross that McGinn turned in for Scotland’s second as he linked up well with club teammate Forrest.
RYAN JACK: 7 Competitive debut for the Rangers man and this was another very good performance. Scrapped away in the middle of the park and his defensive instincts proved valuable on a few occasions.
JOHN MCGINN: 7 Always in the thick of the action and popped up with a great finish to put Scotland back ahead just minutes after Cyprus equalised.
CALLUM MCGREGOR: 7 Just keeps churning out performances for club and country. Energetic in defence and composed in possession.
RYAN CHRISTIE: 8 No doubt he has his first Scotland goal now, opening his body to fire a cracker into the top corner to break the deadlock. Was the icing on the cake of a hugely impressive performance. Put in a heck of a defensive shift too.
JAMES FORREST: 7 Wonderful link-up with Taylor for second goal, but was a little bit quiet otherwise by his own admittedly high standards.
STEVEN NAISMITH: 8 Great duel with Cypriot centre-back Merkis, winning headers, free-kicks and just being a typical nuisance. Set the tone for his team from the first whistle until he tired and was replaced on the hour.
SUBSTITUTES
OLI MCBURNIE: 4 Got half an hour and tried to put himself about, but couldn’t get much going.
OLI BURKE: 3 Wasted a couple of opportunities on the break.
MIKEY DEVLIN: N/A On to see out stoppage time.
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