A SCOTLAND team with plenty of endeavour, no lack of spirit, which spent ever last ounce of energy and could still not win a qualifying match. Oh, and it was against a country with a much smaller population.

Sound familiar?

Except, and this is important, this performance by a young Scotland team with you no real pedigree, the clubs represented included Fleetwood Town, Reading and Crewe, actually gave you a bit of encouragement that out of this group of players there might be a couple who sometime soon-ish might politely knock if not exactly bang on the senior team’s door.

Icelandic football is on the up. Their own senior men qualified for the Euros and this Under-21 team recently beat the much-fancied France and top this ground.

And yet Scotland were the better side here. A bit more composure in front of goal and some worse goalkeeping by the Icelandic hero Frederik Schram would have seen a home win at Pittodrie.

Several players did well, most notably Jason Cummings, Sam Nicholson, Ryan Christie and Dominic Hyam, a centre-half from Reading. They timed their performances to perfection.

"Gordon Strachan came in before the game and had half an hour with us," revealed coach Ricky Sbargia. "It was lovely to see him and great for the younger players. It was inspirational for the players.

"He also came in after the game for a chat with them. He's familiarising himself with them. It was really pleasing. The boys reacted well. Gordon is Gordon. He told them they had done well and to keep going."

Scotland have a draw, win and defeat from their first three games with seven left in this European Championship group. They have still a chance.

Sbargia was pleased with his players, as he should have been because there wasn't much left out on the pitch and qualification is far from an impossibility.

"We have seven games to go so anything can happen," he said. "We have to be positive. From what we've seen so far, France are an exceptional side, Iceland have started well so have a lot of confidence, while Ukraine are a good side.

"The effort from the players was great and we did create a lot of good chances. Their keeper made some good saves"

Scotland, without being brilliant, were the better team from start to finish. Cummings of Hibs was first to have a crack on goal, after ten minutes, with a left foot shot from outside the box which Schram in the Iceland goal prevented going in at the top corner.

Nicholson was next to have a go, an effort from distance that was supposed to curl away from the goalkeeper but went instead straight into his torso.

Scotland must have wondered why Iceland were top given they were so average. A shot and header, both which were comfortably too high, was their contribution so far.

And then on 29 minutes, John McGinn hit a shot not a shade off forty yards from goal which was on target only to be saved by the alert Schram. The visitors should have been ahead a minute later.

A cross from Bodvar Bodvarsson picked out Aron Elis Thrandarson at the front post, unmarked and a few yards from goal, and somehow he put his glancing header past.

And before half-time, Iceland put together their best move of the match, all one-touch passes around the box. Elias Mar Omarsson took possession, skipped past a few tackles only to have be foiled by a fine save from Jack Hamilton.

Scotland, however, started the second period impressively. Three minutes into the half, from a Nicholson corner, Jordan McGhee headed the ball on, Christie, with his back to goal, produced a fine scissor-kick and Iceland keeper Schram was once again on his game and made a quite superb save.

And Schram was at it again on 57 minutes. A great cross from the left by Stephen Kingsley, which he had no right to get over, was met on the volley by Cummings and the Icelandic keeper was, as far as Scotland were concerned, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It wouldn’t be a Scotland performance without some element of peril and on the hour a cross into the box by Bodvarsson was missed everyone in a blue jersey and the home side were saved because Gunnlaugsson allowed the ball to bounce off him inside the six yard box.

There wasn't much in the way of chances after that, but there were some sporadic moments of genuinely good football from front to back by the Scots.

It was to end goalless but from a Scotland point of view it was far from joyless. That is something at least.

Scotland: Hamilton, Paterson, McGhee, Hyam, Kingsley, McGinn, J. Fulton (Love75), Nicholson, King (McManus 82), Christie, Cummings (Shankland 68)

Subs not used: Fulton, Findlay, Fraser, Telfer

Iceland: Schram, Arnarson, Hermannsson, Bödvarsson, Sigurjónsson, O. Ómarsson, Gunnlaugsso Björnsson, Thrándarson (Jónsson 64), Vilhjálmsson , (K. F. Finnbogason 87), E. Ómarsson

Subs not used: Ólafsson, Jónsson, Grétarsson, Aegisson, Rúnarsson, Bookings: Scotland

Bookings: Scotland (Fulton 60, Love 85. Paterson 89), Iceland (Bodvarsson 89)

Referee: Istvan Kovac (Romania)

Attendance: 1135