Steve Clarke insists Scotland provided the perfect response to their critics by snatching a superb point against England at Wembley.

A mature and composed 0-0 draw against the Auld Enemy kept hopes of qualification for the last 16 alive, while repairing much of the damage done by Monday's 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic.

Branding criticism of that result over the top, Clarke responded by handing 20-year-old Billy Gilmour his first Scotland start. Kieran Tierney, Che Adams and Callum McGregor also returned to the starting line as a deserved draw teed up an all-or-nothing clash with Croatia at Hampden on Tuesday.

Roared on by 2800 members of the Tartan Army – and thousands of ticketless fans on the streets of London – hopes of qualifying as one of the third placed teams are now alive and well after the Czechs and Croatia drew 1-1 at Hampden.

'I'm proud of them and pleased for them as well because they got criticised a little bit too much after the result on Monday against the Czech Republic,' said Clarke.

'We've been improving for a long time so it was nice to see on the pitch. We defended well but the most pleasing aspect was how well we played.

'We played well. Obviously we had to be solid defensively, we had to work really hard when England had the ball to stop them creating the chances that they always create. So that side of it was pleasing but it was also pleasing to see us playing out from the back and through the midfield.

'At times we played a lot of good football and it was nice to see.

'The criticism wasn't a motivating factor. The motivating factor was to get something out of the game so that we can go into the last game with a chance of qualifying out of the group.'

Without a failure anywhere in the team Clarke singled out the much-maligned figure of Stephen O'Donnell for praise after the defender recovered from criticism of his display against the Czechs. Delighted with the contribution of Gilmour for 73 minutes, Clarke also mentioned fit again Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson, Grant Hanley and Scott McTominay, after the Manchester United midfielder returned to the right side of a back three. In truth the Scots had no failures.

'Getting Kieran back into the back three, and Scott, gives us the platform to build from the back and play football from the back,' Clarke said. 'Billy and Callum in midfield are both good footballers.

'We knew we couldn't come here and just in and defend for 95 minutes or whatever the game was going to be. We knew we had the ball we had to try and take care of it and create our own chances and that's what we managed to do.

'I thought Stephen O'Donnell was exceptional. And Billy was just behind him. It was nice of Billy to get that start, big platform, big stage, big player Billy.

'We've said for a long time he was part of the future of Scottish football. We know what we've got in the camp and we will try to manage him properly and keep a lid on things. Performances like that will do him no harm whatsoever.'

Insisting there was no risk involved in pitching Ayrshire-born Gilmour into the fray for such a high profile game Clarke explained:

'I don't think there is any risk when you have somebody of Billy Gilmour's talent.

'When you put him on the pitch you expect him to do what he did. He held the ball for us and allowed us to play through the midfield.

'I didn't think it was a risk for the balance of the rest of the team. We were ready to support Billy in his role and I think we did that.

'There are a lot of good people around and that supported Billy. It was great to see him get through 70 odd minutes on his first start.

'I have said for the last year that Billy will be a big part of the future of Scotland. We will try to take care of him and make sure he is a big player in the future.'

Clarke had set his team a target of four point from their final two games. With England and the Czechs all but through the last 16 after reaching four points apiece, it's now a straight shoot out between Scotland and 2018 World Cup Finals Croatia for third place in Group D.

He said: 'I'm pleased for everybody, all my players and all my staff. It was a little bit unfair some of the stuff that came our way after Monday's result. Not Monday's performance, but Monday's result. I'm pleased for them.

'The objective tonight was to get something out of the game so we went into the last game with a genuine chance of getting something out of the group and that's what we've done so we're pleased with that.'

Once again the left-sided duo of Tierney and Robertson were key to much of what the Scots did in both defence and attack. A pre-match injury doubt with a calf problem Tierney made a huge contribution to the effort.

'We have found a way to get them into a team and a good system that works well for us,' Clarke said.

'They are two great players and two big personalities amongst the squad. It was important to get Kieran back in tonight along with Hanley, who was also outstanding.

'It is important we look after them and get the right balance. It is good to allow Kieran to play inside but it also allows him to get forward as well.'