THE wounds of defeat are always the most tender to touch, the most likely to prompt a wince.

The walking wounded of Scotland had medical assessments yesterday. They will be prescribed a mixture of rest, physiotherapy and surgery. The psychological pain of another RBS 6 Nations defeat, though, can only be treated by a victory over Italy at BT Murrayfield on February 28.

No coach can escape pressure after consecutive defeats but the rational view is that Vern Cotter is not one match away from the sack but rather one victory away from giving his callow troops the sort of galvanising medicine that only a triumph provides.

"Most of the guys in the squad would want to go out right now if we had the option," said Rob Harley, the back row forward after the narrow defeat to Wales at the weekend.

But he admitted that the two-week break before the Italy match offered rehabilitation for knocks and bruises while also giving the squad time to prepare for one of the "must-win" matches of the season.

Cotter needs to marshal his side to victory over the Italians and, in the autumn, defeat Samoa to ensure almost certainly a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup. The season of 2015 will be full of hype, criticism, difficulties, praise and, hopefully, dollops of good fortune. But its success or otherwise will be judged, as always, on results, particularly in those two matches.

The 15-8 defeat to France followed by a 23-26 reverse to Wales leaves Scotland open to accusations of being perennial plucky losers and of promising more than they can deliver.

Results are paramount but they should not be allowed to divert the attention from the obvious. This observer, hardly overburdened with rugby knowledge, believed at the start of the RBS 6 Nations campaign that Scotland would win one match but would show improvement. There is no need, as yet, to revise this opinion.

Scotland may not yet have won a 6 Nations match under Cotter but they are a better team than any of recent vintage.

Importantly, defeat has not yet shattered self-belief. "We can look at the reasons why we lost but we also have to take the positives out of some of the ways we attacked, the pressure we put on in the driving maul and when we got going in the finish zone we were ramping up the pressure and really squeezing them on the line," said Harley.

" If that is something we can maintain for an 80-minute performance then we are going to challenge any team in the world."

Cotter, he said, had imbued a sense of belief among the players and in the team ethic. He added: "At times, mistakes will happen, but we always try to play to our very limits, push our limits further so that means we are going to constantly improve because we are always challenging ourselves."

This, then, is side that is still learning who faced team so battle-hardened that it started the match on Sunday with a team of 932 international caps to 591 for the Scots. Wales, too, are accustomed to winning, and not just against the Scots.

Warren Gatland and his troops posed huge problems for a relatively callow side. Scotland had to do everything almost perfectly. They did not. The penalty conceded count was high (13) but not as high as Wales (17). The Scots too just fell one behind Wales in turnovers made with Gatland's team snatching six. The setpiece was largely even, though the Scots did lose one scrum on their put-in.

The match was decided in those moments when glory is in sight and the eyes mist over in a mixture of clamouring emotions. Points should have been taken with kicks at goal when offered. It is gratifying that Cotter has instilled such a belief in his side that it wants to take the bigger prize of a try and conversion when pressure is applied. But sometimes playing smart involves playing conservatively.

Scotland had a series of chances to take three points and opted to run the ball. The match was lost by three points.

Touch, too, has always to be found when penalties are awarded. Always. Finn Russell must accept that a good kick attained is better than a great kick that falls just inches short.

But these failings are almost predictable in a side where Russell, a burgeoning 22-year-old talent, was winning just his seventh international cap and the best forward is 20 years of age.

It would be perverse in the extreme to praise Scotland for its youthful enterprise while slaughtering them collectively for the sort of mistakes that the inexperienced routinely make.

But Cotter has to encourage the former while eradicating much of the latter. There are reasons to believe this is achievable. The New Zealander is simply a good coach who, importantly, has the trust and respect of his players.

The side, too, is has very good players who may, just may become great ones. Russell has the belief to survive criticism and move upwards, Stuart Hogg is extraordinarily exciting, Alex Dunbar's forcing of the turnover that led to the first Scotland try was an eloquent testimony to his strength and the forwards are now competitive with Jonny Gray giving more than a hint of future, extended brilliance.

But the immediate future has its demands. Italy have to be beaten.

It was a painful Monday for the Scotland squad and its coaches. There is enough, though, to encourage healthy optimism.