Scotland remain rooted to the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group after Wales came from behind to stun their hosts 2-1 at Hampden.
The Scots had high hopes of securing the victory that would keep their slim chances of reaching Brazil 2014 alive, but a third home international without a win in Group A effectively left those in tatters.
Grant Hanley’s header in first half stoppage-time seemed to have settled the nerves at the national stadium, but it all went horribly wrong for the home side as Wales struck twice in the space of 93 second half seconds this after Robert Snodgrass had been ordered off for two yellow cards.
Aaron Ramsey’s 72nd minute penalty and Hal Robson-Kanu’s header less than two minutes later did the damage, and Scotland boss Gordon Strachan was forced to taste defeat in his first competitive game in charge.
The loss means the Tartan Army will travel to face Serbia on Tuesday night with little more than pride to play for after being cast adrift at the foot of the group.
“I’m hugely disappointed for the players because I’m sure they wanted to put on a good performance,” Strachan said.
“It’s disappointing but it was nice to see what the players can do that’s in my memory bank. I thought we started nervously and I thought Steven Fletcher’s injury spooked us a bit, and we didn’t pass the ball well enough.
“The second half we had a terrific start, although 1-0 kind of flattered us, and we had chances to get a second but never took them. The penalty obviously caused us problems and it was an uphill fight from there.”
Strachan conceded that qualification now looks to have gone but admitted the target now is to try to win games and see out the campaign on a high.
“It’s not a good period for us right now,” he acknowledged.
“It’s not easy. We’ll experiment, we’ll find out what is right for us and we’ll take it from there.
“We have to change the team and it’s an opportunity for other people to stake their claim.
“There were a few tonight who staked their claim, which is good, and there were a few who said they could probably do better they’ll get their opportunity again.
“Getting beat in any game is hard to take, but it’s our fault we were beaten tonight.”
Wales boss Chris Coleman was delighted with their success, although he described some of the home side’s tackles as “brutal.”
“I thought first half we totally dominated the game and we almost became too comfortable,” he said.
“This home crowd doesn’t need much to get excited and we kept them quiet in that first half. If we tried to fight Scotland, we’d be sitting there with a frown because we’d have lost.
“We just tried to play our game. We were disappointed to go in at half time 1-0 down because I didn’t think it was a true reflection but I think we thoroughly deserved to win the game in the end.”
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