Scotland's U21s rescued a 1-1 draw against Sweden thanks to David Wotherspoon's injury-time equaliser.

Last-gasp leveller boosts Stark's youngsters

Scotland's Under-21s rescued a 1-1 draw from the clutches of defeat against Sweden thanks to David Wotherspoon's injury-time equaliser. Billy Stark's side struggled to break down the young Swedes, who looked like emulating their senior colleagues courtesy of an impressive free-kick from Denni Avdic at St Mirren Park. But Wotherspoon shot low into the net from 16 yards in the closing stages after Chris Maguire had laid the ball back following a purposeful break. And there was a pleasing draw for Stark in Austria too as Scotland's group leaders were held 3-3 by Belarus after conceding a last-minute equaliser. Scotland are now one point behind Austria but have a game in hand and are level on points with Belarus, with their final two matches coming against their qualification rivals early next month. The Scots will need to step up their game though after failing to spark against the Swedes, although Stark was without injured striker David Goodwillie and captain Paul Caddis. Stark handed a debut to Liverpool's Danny Wilson, who partnered former Rangers team-mate Ross Perry in central defence. Jason Marr, who is on loan at Falkirk from Celtic, also came in for his first start at right-back while Murray Davidson finally made his under-21 debut after being forced out of several squads through injury. Sweden enjoyed the better of the early exchanges but Scotland registered the first effort on target when Maguire saw a 25-yard strike held.

Improved

The hosts improved but they fell behind in the 16th minute when Avdic curled into the corner of the net from 30 yards after being fouled by Ross Perry. Leeds goalkeeper Alan Martin soon kept Scotland in the game when he blocked Rasmus Jonsson's header from six yards out as the home defence failed to cope with Jiloan Hamad's corner. Scotland, who had also seen Blackburn defender Grant Hanley and Celtic winger James Forrest pull out, threatened through Andrew Shinnie, whose 20-yard strike was beaten away by Kristoffer Nordfeldt. But they lacked penetration and Martin made another crucial save in injury-time when he parried a powerful strike from Jimmy Durmaz. Stark brought on Australian-born Newcastle midfielder Bradden Inman for his debut while Rangers goalkeeper Scott Gallacher and Tam Scobbie also came on for the restart. Scotland failed to make any inroads on the Swedish goal though before Motherwell defender Steven Saunders and Hull midfielder Tom Cairney became the latest players to be handed debut caps. The home side continued to keep possession without threatening to hurt their opponents and Sweden, who brought on nine subs, carved out several opportunities in the latter stages. The lively Joe Sise created a great chance for Daniel Nordmark, who headed straight at Gallacher from eight yards and the Scotland keeper saved well from Agon Mehmeti. However, Hibernian midfielder Wotherspoon's composed finish rescued a draw for Scotland 90 seconds into injury-time.