Scotland captain Andy Robertson admits he has struggled with criticism of his international performances.
And the Liverpool star reckons it is a similar situation for him as it was for Darren Fletcher when the former Scotland midfielder was starring for Manchester United.
One criticism of Fletcher was that he never performed at the same level for his national team as he did at Old Trafford and similar has been aimed at Robertson over the past week, report the Mirror.
The left back was at fault for Russia's equaliser in the 2-1 defeat and didn't seem to be his usual marauding self in that game or against Belgium.
One excuse often given for Fletcher not performing was that he didn't have the same level of player around him in a Scotland shirt as he did playing for Sir Alex Ferguson , and Robertson hinted similar.
He said: “Last week was tough, and I just couldn’t wait for this game.
“Once the Scotland games were out of the way and the dust had settled, I couldn’t wait for this game because I wanted to get back to good performances. I feel as if I did that today.
“It’s something you have to deal with when you go up there. Darren Fletcher dealt with it for 10, 12 years when he was at the top at Manchester United and now I’m facing it.
“That’s something I have to deal with up in Scotland and I need to deal better with… in terms of not letting it affect me and try and concentrate on my game and things like that.”
The 25-year-old surprised reporters with his reveal that he takes criticism to heart and when it was pointed out that he didn't seem to show any worries, he added: “Trust me, it can happen. Unfortunately it happened twice over that last week.
“I lock myself away. I don’t like to talk to anyone. That’s up to me to deal with and I dealt with it in the way that I felt was right and I’ll continue to do that.
“Today I was just looking forward to getting back out on the pitch.”
