Momentum a must for Scotland in World Cup build-up as Clarke's side urged to focus on positives of Japan defeat

Lewis Ferguson wants Scotland to draw on the positives and reap the benefits of facing highly-ranked opposition in the build up to this summer’s World Cup finals.

Steve Clarke’s side have stepped outside the boundaries of Europe by arranging pre-tournament friendlies against three different confederations. And the Scots kick-started their preparations with an uninspiring 1-0 defeat against Japan at Hampden on Saturday.

Substitute Junya Ito scored the game’s only goal after 84 minutes as the hosts struggled to muster up many clear-cut opportunities.

Bologna midfielder Ferguson confessed: “I think it is important to get results and get performances so you have that good feeling when we get to America. We'll have some friendlies before the tournament kicks off. It's all part of the preparations.

“We faced a really good team on Saturday. In recent tournaments, they've gone really far and they’ve got some top players. They’re a good level opponent, well-respected. It was a difficult game like we expected and we’re disappointed to lose it, especially at home. But there's some positive things that we can take out of it and build on.

“We'll look back at some of the good things, some bad things, and we'll try and build on it because you want to build as much momentum as you possibly can going into the summer. When you get to the start of the tournament, momentum plays such a big part.

“We'll rest and recover now, look at some things that we can improve on and take that into Tuesday night and hopefully get a better result.”