Sheffield United pair on bench as Scotland pick up a point against Israel thanks to Newcastle United's Ryan Fraser

Former Blade Che Adams was also handed his first Scotland start in the 1-1 draw and assisted Ryan Fraser for Scotland’s second-half equaliser after they went into the interval 1-0 down.

Fraser struck 11 minutes into the second half to earn Scotland a point in front of around 5,000 fans at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.

The hosts had taken a deserved lead a minute before the break when David Marshall palmed Dor Peretz’s long-range strike into the net.

Steve Clarke’s half-time reshuffle transformed Scotland and they threatened twice soon after the equaliser. But they had to settle for a second draw in three days after twice coming from behind against Austria.

Scotland had lost twice in Israel in the previous two-and-a-half years but the point leaves them already needing some big results in the group – top seeds Denmark won in the same stadium on Thursday and then thrashed Moldova 8-0.

Fraser felt Scotland’s second-half showing was enough to earn them three points.

The Newcastle winger told Sky Sports: “A lot better in the second half – we obviously took a little while to get going in the first half.

“I thought the second half we dominated the game and we should have won in the end.

“We’ve been beaten here the last two times we’ve played here, so to come away with a point – there’s still a lot of points to play for.

“We just need to go into the Faroes game and win the game.”

On a disappointing first half, Fraser added: “Sometimes it doesn’t go the way you plan it to go but I think we showed character and the gaffer (Steve Clarke) said at half-time we need to stand up and do a lot better and I thought we did that.

“The gaffer got us coming out fighting and I thought we dominated the game second half – some of our passages of play were brilliant and I think we had 12 shots.

“On another day our final ball could have been a little bit better but the way we played, the way we passed, the way we pressed second half was a lot, lot better.”

Boss Clarke added on the second half showing: "We asked the players to step up and show a bit of character and that's what they did so credit to the players.

"Two points from two games - lets see what happens later in the group. I can't foresee the future.

"Austria play Denmark on Wednesday so one of them will drop points. We play the Faroes at home and we have to pick up points."