Belarus debut star Vladislav Kalinin admitted he smashed into Lewis Ferguson as revenge for a tackle on his teammate.
Scotland defeated Belarus in Hungary to make it four points out of six in their opening two World Cup qualifiers.
Bologna midfielder Ferguson was fortunate to avoid a more serious injury when Dinamo Minsk player Kalinin made an awful lunge on the former Aberdeen star in the second half.
He was only booked and the 23-year-old had no regrets about the tackle.
He said: "Before that challenge, our player, Max Ebong, was taken out with a tackle from behind.
"I thought that was unacceptable so I decided to take a little revenge for my teammate.
"That's probably how we should have played, with more aggression.
"I didn't want to cause injury in any way, but you have to be tougher in a match like that.
"For me, it was a great honour to make my debut for the national team. There was a lot more responsibility for me than when I played for Dynamo Minsk.
"In the second half, Scotland played more through the middle and it was tough for us."
