SEEKING to orchestrate a much-needed victory for Scotland, Gordon Strachan rang the changes at Wembley, sounded the battle cry and alighted on the Celtic connection. In the end, however, all he got was the same old song.

Given the form of Brendan Rodgers’ side this season it was perhaps not surprising that Strachan chose to throw four of them into his starting line-up for the match against England to see if they could carry their domestic displays into the international fray. The quartet all featured prominently, but none could make the impact that Strachan must surely have wished for.

Scott Brown was the only one whose inclusion could not be considered something of a surprise. After all, there was as much chance of Brown starting on the bench after he announced his decision to come out of international retirement as there was of finding a Scotland fan who could pass a breathalyser test come kick-off.

And sure enough, there he was, front and centre to earn his 51st cap and his first since March. Brown’s role was to notionally sit alongside Darren Fletcher in a two-man defensive midfield buffer but, as has been the case during a season of remarkable transformation, he was just about everywhere, in the early stages especially.

When England first took possession of the ball three minutes in – Scotland lulling everyone into a false sense of optimism by keeping the ball promisingly until then – it was Brown who ended the move with a slide tackle on the left touchline. Moments later he was on the other wing, drawing a foul from Wayne Rooney, next he was springing a rare counter attack. He would later, unsurprisingly, run out of steam as Scotland chased their tail following the concession of a trio of headed goals. It remains to be seen whether Brown is back for good – a large part of that decision may depend on what Strachan does next – but Scotland must be hoping this wasn’t the former captain returning for one night only.

The other three Celtic players could surely only have hoped to have started the game rather than expected it. There was a 45th cap for Craig Gordon as the goalkeeper featured in a World Cup qualifying tie for the first time since 2009. It is perhaps symptomatic of Scotland’s recent misfortune that his first major act in the game was to pick the ball out of his net after 23 minutes. With no pressure on Daniel Sturridge as he stooped to convert a terrific header, there was little really Gordon could have done to keep it out. It was a similar story with England’s second and third goals, both also headers from players marked only in the loosest sense of the word. Gordon, in fact, didn’t have a single shot to save throughout the match. Few goalkeepers effort emerge blameless from a 3-0 defeat but this was a tale of missed chances and poor marking, rather than any fault on Gordon’s part.

At the other end of the park, the Scotland fans got the striker they had been crying out for as Leigh Griffiths got his first start of the campaign ahead of Chris Martin and Steven Fletcher. Ten caps in, however, and he is yet to deliver his first international goal. There will be fingers jabbed at the striker for not slipping a pass in to Robert Snodgrass in the first half but electing to shoot himself. But that is Griffiths and how he plays.

He had a few other efforts on goal – notably a first-half shot that hit John Stones in the unmentionables, a second-half volley that fizzed over the top and a late free kick off target – but it would prove a disappointing night for the striker who was also booked. Perhaps Scotland’s greatest misfortune was that at their two must-make shooting opportunities early in the second half, it was not Griffiths who was standing over either.

Instead, the best chance of the lot fell to James Forrest, the fourth Celtic player to merit inclusion from the first whistle. Stationed wide on the left wing on the occasion of his 16th cap, Forrest typically flitted in and out of the contest - as he often tends to do - showing his bravery to take a kick on the head as he went for a first-half bouncing ball. His pivotal moment came early in the second half with the score still at 1-0 as he fastened on to a Lee Wallace cross, switched the play from one foot to the other and then, somehow, dragged his shot wide of goal. It felt a costly error at the time and so it would prove. Scotland never recovered, instead conceding two more goals. The Celtic connection could not prevent the all-too-familiar lament come full-time.