Sébastien Pocognoli has said his Scotland side had to "suffer together" before they imposed themselves in the goalless draw against Slovenia in Ljubljana.
In his first game in charge, the 39-year-old Belgian head coach refreshed his side for their UEFA Nations League Group B1 opener, but in a mostly uninspiring first half they rode their luck on several occasions.
Robbie Ure -- who earned his first Scotland cap -- came closest to opening the visitors' account, when his well-worked effort crashed off the base of the post just before half time.
However, in an impressive second-half turnaround, only a fine performance from Slovenia captain and goalkeeper Jan Oblak kept the visitors at bay as goals continued to elude them.
Pocognoli said: "The last feeling in the dressing room some minutes ago was positive because we had a good second half.
"We faced what we expected, a really aggressive Slovenia team but we were a little bit surprised about the shape.
"It looked like a back five, but it was actually a back four when they were on the ball.
"Because of that we really struggled to find a way to press so we were quite deep and low on the pitch. That meant we suffered.
"But what we learned from the first half was that we had to defend the box well -- to be resilient and to just suffer together."
Oli McBurnie came back into the side for the first time in five years and came agonisingly close to scoring on his return to hand Scotland three points, but poor-decision making proved costly.
The Hull City striker said he's "not going to be able to sleep tonight" when reflecting on the clear-cut chance he missed.
"We created enough chances to kill the game and we're really disappointed we didn't get the three points," McBurnie told BBC Sport post-match.
"I think I've got to score, and a couple of the other lads as well.
"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight with those chances."
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But head coach Pocognoli did not want to make a big deal of the opportunities which would have given him the perfect dugout debut.
He said: "I believe that maybe we should have scored in the second half, but I always think that maybe there is some reason why we don't.
"I don't want to make a big topic about the missing of chances. That can happen.
"But what the offensive players delivered also in terms of pressing was maybe more than they have done before. So maybe they missed some freshness in the last movement."
Information from PA contributed to this report.