Andy Robertson has admitted he needed the tonic of Anfield to cure his international blues.
The defender endured a difficult time on duty with his country Scotland and he confessed the criticism which followed hurt him badly.
“Last week was tough, and I just couldn’t wait for this game,” he said.
“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.”
Robertson was heavily criticised in his native country for his display in the 2-1 defeat by Russia, and he revealed that got to him.
He said: “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.”
When it was pointed out he hardly seems the type who will stew on criticism, he replied: “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.”
