Leanne Crichton questions 'bonkers' Kieran Tierney decision in Scotland defeat to Morrocco

Leanne Crichton has questioned Steve Clarke's decision to start with Celtic defender Kieran Tierney on the left of the attack in Scotland's 1-0 defeat to Morocco on Saturday.

Ismael Saibari's defining goal came in just the second minute, with the African champions taking one step into the round of 32.

The Tartan Army will need to beat Brazil in their final game to qualify for the next stage in the top two, or risk a clash against a group winner.

Clarke had dropped Tierney in the 1-0 win against Haiti, with John McGinn deployed on the left of midfield and Ben Gannon-Doak on the right.

But clearly in fear of the threat from Morocco, Scotland opted to start both Tierney and Andy Robertson on the left on Saturday, in a move that saw them lack potency.

Clarke rectified his mistake on the hour mark, but it was not soon enough for the 62-year-old.

FULL TIME: Scotland 0-1 Morocco.

A narrow defeat in Boston.#SCOMAR | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/AEy7df8uph

In some respects, Clarke's desire to keep Morocco out was well placed and made sense.

The African side showed their attacking pedigree against Brazil, and are seventh in FIFA's world rankings.

But Saibari's instant opener was the worst possible scenario for Scotland, and immediately saw Clarke's tactics proved useless.

Scotland off to the worst possible start as Morocco open the scoring in 71 seconds pic.twitter.com/Zl3DguxyhX

The 62-year-old's side ultimately failed to even register a shot on target, with McGinn slicing their best chance when he was found inside the box by Robertson.

Scotland had always came into this game as second favourites, but fans would have hoped to, at least, see Morocco put under pressure.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live, Rangers manager Crichton said: "It's been nuts. The first 20 minutes, I honestly thought 'what is going on?' I had tried to rationalise Tierney playing left-mid, and I thought it must be to man mark [Achraf] Hakimi.

"Never for one second did I think he'd follow him over every blade of grass. That's just bonkers. Scotland aren't that many levels below Morocco where we need to deploy that. It's too difficult and it brings too much confusion."

Clarke will argue that his tactics kept Scotland in the game and gave them a chance to win a point with their late pressure, but Morocco should have been out of sight.

Had Saibari released a better pass to Bilal El Khannouss midway through the first half, the game may well have been all but won.

"Thankfully he does the honourable thing and puts it over the bar"

Should this have been a free kick for Scotland...? pic.twitter.com/7Lkq75UoSc

Scotland did fight back, but for Clarke's critics, the recovery came 45 minutes too late.

Scotland's clash with Brazil will now come with a key decision for the manager, who must decide how this World Cup is going to be remembered back home.