 Scotland boss McLeish saw his side outplayed in Bari |
Scotland manager Alex McLeish was proud of his players after they fell to a 2-0 defeat in Italy. "I have no complaints," he told BBC Sport. "We tried to be positive and get forward and we had some near things.
"We finished the first half strongly but we lacked that killer touch in front of goal.
"I felt we could get something before the game and there is a lot to be positive about. Scott Brown played well and Shaun Maloney looked bright."
Hibernian midfielder Brown, making his first start for Scotland, and captain Barry Ferguson caught the eye in spells against the World Cup winners.
But the Scots struggled when Italy raised their game in the second half and goalkeeper Craig Gordon made two good saves to deny Antonio Di Natale.
Despite the obvious gulf in class, Ferguson remains confident that Scotland can reach the 2008 European Championship finals.
"We can qualify," he told BBC Sport. "We have to be positive.
 | There is no shame in coming to Italy and losing |
"We will regroup and look to get three points when we visit the Faroe Islands in our next match."
Luca Toni scored the goals for Italy, the first after only 12 minutes, and both were from comfortable free headers.
"We kept going after losing an early goal and had a few chances," added Ferguson.
"The game died for us in the second half and we are a wee bit disappointed with that.
"Italy are a good side but they are beatable."
Defender Stephen McManus was making only his second appearance for Scotland and he was more impressed by the Italians.
"It was very tough out there," he told BBC Sport. "They are the world champions and they showed just how good they are.
"You learn a lot playing against top players and hopefully this experience can help us improve.
"There is no shame in coming to Italy and losing. We gave it our best shot and that's all you can do."
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Interview: Scotland manager Alex McLeish