Alan Rough: It was Scott Brown and the Scotland defence who were to blame against England - not Craig Gordon

What is more, the 53-times capped goalkeeper wasn’t slow in coming off his line to block the flak flying in the direction of visiting stopper Joe Hart following his failure to keep out those two late Leigh Griffiths free-kicks.

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He may have hung up his gloves a while ago and be as well know now as one half of a double act with presenter Peter Martin on the Peter and Roughie Show on STV, but he clearly remains a fully paid-up member of the goalkeepers’ union.

Gordon has been blamed by many members of the Tartan Army – who feel he was badly at fault for both the Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opener and the injury-time Harry Kane equaliser - for the failure of the national team to record what would have been a famous victory in the Russia 2018 match.

But Rough, who was working as a pundit at the Group F encounter for STV, is adamant the Scotland midfield and defence must shoulder most of the responsibility for both of goals they conceded.

“If Craig was going to criticise himself it would be for his actions way before the Oxlade-Chamberlain goal at the Tierney passback,” he said. “He never dealt with it and that is where the trouble came from.

“But once the throw-in came in the people in front to of him weren’t doing their job. And if you really look at it you can see the shot from Oxlade-Chamberlain goes through Stuart Armstrong’s legs. It comes to him very, very late.

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“I know it comes right at him. Your natural reaction is to stick your hand up there. If you get the break of the ball you keep it out. Unfortunately, it just hit his hand and went into the net.

“But, initially, Scott Brown has got to put in a better tackle on the edge of the box. I think everybody was frightened to tackle Oxlade-Chamberlain because of the pace he was going at. They all just got in a line in front of Gordon.

“Yes, Craig is just watching the ball. But it comes through Armstrong’s legs and he only catches sight of it at the last minute. It is not as if it has been struck from 18 to 20 yards away. In those situations, it is just a case of putting your hands up and hoping you get a deflection.”

But surely Gordon should have come off his line and plucked the Raheem Sterling cross which Kane volleyed home in the 93rd minute out of the air? Not necessarily, according to Rough. He is adamant that Christophe Berra and Charlie Mulgrew were culpable.

“Craig has got two centre halves in front of him,” he said. “He will have been looking for one of them to get a head on it. If they don’t do what they’re supposed to do then it’s too late for the goalkeeper.

“Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and saying: ‘He’s a big guy. Why didn’t he come and get it?’ Sorry, but that is what the two centre backs are supposed to be doing. I thought the defence did everything that was expected of them in the game. I thought they played particularly well. But they were at fault there.

“Craig is professional enough to go away and analyse it. He himself will know he could have done better. If you have a look back at it, either Christophe Berra or Charlie Mulgrew have to deal with the ball coming into their box.”

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Chris Sutton, the former Celtic and England striker, has suggested, in his usual antagonistic manner, that Brendan Rodgers should consider bringing a new keeper to Parkhead in the days since the Hampden match.

Rough, the former Partick Thistle and Hibernian player who spent a brief spell at Celtic towards the end of his playing days, feels he should retain the No.1 jersey for both club and country.

Asked if the 34-year-old should keep his place in the Scotland starting line-up, he said: “Most definitely, yes. If you rewind a bit, look at the save he had from the Eric Dier free-kick. The England player strikes it well and he denies him brilliantly.”

The game on Saturday has also increased pressure on Gareth Southgate to drop Hart, whose international career has been littered with high-profile errors, and the Manchester City man will not be involved in the friendly against France in Paris this evening. Tom Heaton of Burnley will start and Jack Butland of Stoke City will come on at half-time.

But Rough, who played for Scotland in both the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, feels that the criticism which has been aimed at Hart would be bettered directed at his defensive wall and does a disservice to the quality of the dead ball deliveries.

“Until you actually have to stand there and deal with it you have no idea what it’s like,” he said. “Joe Hart has just been beaten by two terrific free-kicks. I think the defensive walls could both have done a wee bit better.

“Hart is unsighted at both of the free-kicks. Standing behind the defensive wall there is no way he can see Griffiths hitting the ball until the last second.

“The first wall didn’t jump and Griffiths scored and the second wall did jump and Griffiths scored. It is so difficult with how light balls are now. Technique-wise, strikers are so good.”