Northern Ireland can take positives from friendly loss to impressive Scotland

Scotland 3 Northern Ireland 0

Northern Ireland players after Scotland score their third goal during Friday's Friendly International at Dens Park

Northern Ireland’s Joely Andrews comes close to scoring

Scotland’s Nicola Docherty with Northern Ireland’s Rebecca McKenna fight for the ball

Scotland’s Nicola Docherty with Northern Ireland’s Caragh Hamilton

Northern Ireland interim manager Gail Redmond

At any level, in any sport, if all you do is look at results you’ll miss so many other things – both in victory and defeat.

That is particularly the case in international football friendlies.

Yes, Northern Ireland’s 3-0 loss to Scotland may, on the face of it, look like a heavy defeat, but take out the six-minute spell late in the first half when the goals arrived – we have been down that road before – and look deeper and there is so much for interim manager Gail Redmond to take from the game and whoever gets appointed to the role on a permanent basis to build on after a display much better than April’s 4-1 reverse in Wales.

There’s no denying that Scotland were the better and more clinical team, but for the other 84 minutes and outside of the goals from Erin Cuthbert, Sam Kerr and Martha Thomas Northern Ireland were fairly stable defensively, aggressive in their press and a Scottish midfield that had been branded the best in Europe by one of their former internationals never showed that level of quality such was the way they were denied space.

At the other end Northern Ireland caused plenty of problems for the Scots how at times were shaky at the back,

Many times Northern Ireland were just one quality pass away from being in very good positions, particularly when the scoreline was still blank and a goal would have taken the