CRAIG Gordon's first touch on his Scotland return was to pick Wayne Rooney's header out of the net in a 3-1 defeat by England but he was still delighted to end four years in the international wilderness.

The 31-year-old former Sunderland goalkeeper was out the game for two years with a knee injury and it looked like the 40th cap he won against the Faroe Islands in 2010 would be his last before Celtic took a chance on him in the summer.

His form as replacement for Fraser Forster, who moved to Southampton and who was in goal for the visitors at Parkhead on Tuesday , earned him a well-deserved recall by Gordon Strachan.

However, less than two minutes after coming on as an interval replacement for David Marshall, and with the visitors leading through an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goal, Gordon was beaten by a Rooney header.

Andy Robertson pulled a goal back late in the game but the England skipper struck again to seal a comfortable win.

Yet Gordon was still able to take some satisfaction from the game.

"It has been a while," he said. "I think I have had to work a bit harder for this cap than I probably did for any of the first 40.

"So from my point of view it was nice to be back.

"I was hoping for a start but to get on was a huge lift for me personally after being out for so long.

"I have to take the positives out of that, it is another cap.

"I wasn't really nervous but it is difficult for a keeper to come on at half-time, it is a challenge but something you have to deal with when you are playing international football and I think I did okay.

"I was disappointed with the way it turned out. I would like to have had a few saves to make but that's football and at least I got back out there and hopefully there is more to come.

"I don't think I touched the ball (before Rooney scored).

"It is just part of the game. They scored a soft goal from that point of view and we didn't manage to come back from that."

After the excitement of beating Republic of Ireland 1-0 in the Euro 2016 qualifier at the same venue on Friday night, Scotland looked flat against the Auld Enemy, who were assured and composed for most of the night.

The former Hearts number one insists the Scots have to put the disappointment behind them and focus on qualifying for France in 2016 with the next Group D fixture being the visit of Gibraltar to Hampden Park in March.

"We looked a bit tired and off the pace," said Gordon. "It is understandable because we put a lot into that Irish game and that was more important.

"We know we did not perform as well as we can do, far from it, so we are all disappointed with that. We will make sure that doesn't happen again.

"We know how to play to get results and that wasn't it.

"The group is still tight. We need to keep up our winning ways in the group and get as many points as we can.

"We still have some very difficult games to come so we are still a long way to go before we can think of qualification."

Grant Hanley insists the Euro points won against the Irish were by far the most important aim of the Celtic Park double-header.

"The main thing was three points on Friday night," said the Blackburn defender.

"It was disappointing against England but that happens.

"It was about pride and we let ourselves down a little bit.

"They were the better side, we never performed.

"We have to put it to bed, get back to our clubs and go again when the next fixture comes round in March.

"We look forward to the Gibraltar game and we will approach it no differently from any other game in this campaign."