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By Peter Jardine
Anguish: Kenny Miller reacts after missing a chanceFurious Scotland boss Craig Levein hit out at Lithuania's rough-house tactics here last night - and accused Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir of failing to protect his players.
Levein claimed the hosts had been allowed to deliberately break up play with a string of fouls as the Scots dropped two valuable points in an opening Euro 2012 qualifier which saw five players yellow carded - three of them Lithuanians.
The build-up had been dominated by a war of words involving Saulius Mikoliunas - stemming from his blatant dive to win a penalty against the Scots three years ago - and vendettas seemed to spill over onto the pitch.
Levein, whose team must beat Group I makeweights Liechtenstein at Hampden on Tuesday night, said: 'It was free-kick after free-kick out there and I think it must have been Lithuania's deliberate plan to stop us playing.
'Guys in their team had five or six fouls individually without receiving a yellow card. 'It must have been a plan. Some of the challenges that came in were so blatant.'
Alan Hutton reacted angrily to a bad foul by Kestutis Ivaskevicius in the final stages and Levein shared his frustration.
'The challenge on Alan Hutton very late in the game was outrageous. Yet we had Scott Brown booked for his first foul in the game.
'I just did not feel the referee looked after us enough. Any momentum we had was broken up constantly. 'Allan McGregor only had one save to make all night - and that was after a blatant foul on David Weir.
The referee has to be the man to take care of that - and I did not think he gave out enough cards against Lithuania. 'Did I speak to the match official afterwards? There just wasn't any point.'
Skipper Darren Fletcher agreed with Levein, saying: 'The whole game was stop-start, there were fouls every minute. 'When we built up momentum or counter attacked, they just looked to foul. The referee could have been a little stronger in that respect.'
Full-back Hutton said: 'Every time we attacked, went forward or did something positive, it seemed to be in their mindset to bring us down or break down the play.'
Attrition: Scott Brown battles with Lithuania's Deivdas SemberasLevein was happier with the performance than the result - his team's resolute display halting an alarming record of five successive away defeats in which the Scots had conceded 15 goals and scored none.
But for all their hard work, they lacked the inspiration up front to break the deadlock, with both Kenny Miller and Steven Naismith spurning decent chances.
'The way the game panned out, we deserved more - but I am not disappointed with a point away from home,' said Levein following his competitive debut. 'A draw is not the end of the world, but I feel we were the better side. 'There are plus factors there.
The players put in an enormous shift and showed great energy and pride. I think we showed the people back home what it means to wear the Scotland shirt.
'I was really pleased with them and all we lacked was a goal. But I also know we can play much better than this.'
It remains to be seen how damaging the two dropped points will be given that Scotland now must overcome the minnows from Liechtenstein before an ominous October doubleheader against the Czech Republic in Prague and Spain in Glasgow.
Levein had left talisman James McFadden on the bench as he made eight changes from the side that lost 3-0 to Sweden last month, although the Birmingham star made a late appearance.
Old hand: David Weir directs proceedings from the backAsked about McFadden's demotion, Levein said: 'Away from home is a different game. I went for people with energy and I think that worked - we won the ball high up the pitch.
We had to compete very hard and all the midfield guys did that. 'James McFadden's assets are enormous - he can win you a game out of nothing. He did well when he came on.'
Brown and Lee McCulloch received bookings, but Levein said the Celtic captain's eventual withdrawal was based on fitness concerns and not over fears he may be sent off.'I took Brown off because he was tiring. He has not trained much because of this ankle thing he has.'
David Weir became the oldest player to pull on a Scotland shirt at 40 years and 11 6 days, while skipper Darren Fletcher won his 49th senior cap and will enter the SFA Hall of Fame for those who reach the half century when he faces Liechtenstein in midweek.
Left-back Steven Whittaker took a calf knock and will be assessed before the game.
Group favourites Spain thrashed Liechtenstein 4-0 in Vaduz with two goals from Fernando Torres and one apiece from David Villa and substitute David Silva.
source: dailymail
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