'No one is saying the night was a triumph," one of Alex Salmond's inner circle admitted with remarkable understatement after Tuesday's television debate with Alistair Darling.

"There were positives and negatives we'll be taking away from it," was added.

But behind the forced smiles in the Yes campaign, there is clearly a feeling that last week represented an opportunity missed.

The First Minister's performance was strong at the start of the 90-minute clash, as he cited the rise of food banks, Trident, and Scots not getting the governments they vote for, as examples of Westminster wrongs to be righted.

It was convincing too in the closing statement, as he lifted his gaze to the differences and opportunities possible with independence.

But in between those moments?

It was not just that he was criticised for his failure to state a Plan B on the currency if Westminster refused to go along with his plan to share the pound that struck observers.

It was that Salmond under-performed when he cross-examined Darling.

Not ad libbing, but working from a script, the First Minister wasted most of his allotted 12 minutes with questions about trivial and obscure statements from the No camp, including driving on the right and the threat of alien attack.

The intent, say the SNP, was to debunk the No side's arguments against independence by showing how ridiculous they often are.

But with 1.7 million people tuning in for information ahead of Scotland's biggest decision in 300 years, it struck the wrong note.

Instead of rising statesmanlike to the occasion, Salmond looked obsessed with scoring petty debating points rather than answering questions directly.

It might get him through a few quick rounds with Labour leader Johann Lamont each week, but it was no match for Darling on Tuesday.

It left many in the audience unhappy too, with Salmond being booed at one point.

One SNP insider said the problem, as previously diagnosed by former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars, was that Salmond had surrounded himself with a team of Yes men and women who were not strong enough to highlight shortcomings.

Certainly the team he used for Tuesday - which included special advisers Geoff Aberdein and Stuart Nicolson, former MSPs Andrew Wilson and Duncan Hamilton, and the lifestyle coach Claire Howell - did not contain anyone who would intrude on the First Minister's comfort zone.

Senior figures in the Yes campaign this weekend conceded things would have to change.

So in future Salmond will focus on the uplifting aspects of independence, drawing on the sentiments he expressed in his opening and closing statements last week, and pushing the idea that by voting Yes people will be able to leave their mark on history.

At Better Together, they feel Tuesday's debate has given Darling a problem as well as a prize.

"Salmond will be much, much better in the next debate, we know that," says one No strategist.

But, overall, Unionists are not fazed, feeling that, while Darling can improve on his rocky moments, Salmond has an impossible task.

"Alistair can sharpen up his answer on the form of more devolution," said one Labour insider. "And he can sharpen up his answer on whether he agrees with David Cameron that Scotland can be a successful independent country.

"But Alex Salmond can't sharpen up his answer on the currency because he doesn't have one."