WE'RE SO CLOSE TO CHANGE OF ENDS

Despite more stoppage-time heartache Adams reckons glory is almost within grasp

- ANDY NEWPORT

CHE ADAMS thought he'd swooped to Scotland's rescue and at last provided the nation with a last-gasp hero of their own in Zagreb.

In the end, the narrowest of VAR calls denied the striker the plaudits for saving the day against Croatia.

But the fact it was yet more stoppage-time heartache for Steve Clarke's side has only convinced the Torino hitman the national team are ticking forward in the right direction.

It's four straight losses now for the Scots and while that woeful sequence has equalled the country's worst run of defeats, they have all come by the narrowest of margins at the worst possible moment.

From Kevin Csoboth's 100th-minute strike for Hungary that buried the final nail in our Euros coffin to late agony in the Nations League defeats to Poland and Portugal, it's been nothing but stomachwrenching blows in the final stages for Clarke and co. And on Saturday, it was Scotland pushing for a draw as Adams forced Kristijan Jakic to fire the ball into his own net at the Stadion Maksimir.

But the end result was just as frustrating as Adams was flagged offside by the telly officials and the point-saving goal chopped off.

He said: "Yes, it's definitely frustrating. That shows how much we've grown as a nation to come up against these teams.