Scotland fell to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Kazakhstan this afternoon in their first Euro 2020 qualifier.

It really was an awful display from the Scots and plenty of questions will be asked of Alex McLeish given the manner of the defeat against the side ranked 117th in the world.

Defensively, the side were appalling and that makes the decision to leave out Leeds United's Liam Cooper even more baffling.

The Whites skipper has had a brilliant season on the whole and must merit a place in the squad given the lack of quality and depth McLeish has in that role.

You can understand why Scott McKenna was picked as he has been very good for Aberdeen this season, even though he had a very poor game today.

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Yet, there's no other standout candidates to partner him with Hamburg's David Bates given the nod against Kazakhstan.

But, the fact Cooper couldn't even make the squad is laughable and he is the sort of leader the Scots needed today as they fell behind to an early goal.

Instead, they crumbled and they were always going to be up against it when they went two down inside ten minutes.

Obviously, the defender will be completely focused on winning promotion with Leeds but it would have been good to see his form rewarded with international recognition.

Strangely enough though, the manner of the loss today might actually work in his favour.

Cooper won't have been pleased watching the side struggle like that but it has to force the manager into selecting him when the next set of fixtures come around - by which time he might be a Premier League captain.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.