Scotland manager Gordon Strachan said he believed his side's 3-0 defeat to England at Wembley was "not fair" on his players and did not reflect the effort they put in.
The visitors made the brighter start but found themselves three goals down when Gary Cahill scored just after the hour and were left to rue misses by James Forrest and Robert Snodgrass while the match was still in the balance.
"It's hard to take in," Strachan said at his postmatch news conference. "I feel for that group [of players] in there because that wasn't fair. There are games where sometimes it's not fair, and that wasn't."
England had barely threatened before Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring midway through the first half, and Strachan said his team remained confident of a result at half-time.
"To put that much work in, stick to a gameplan, to let them have just one chance in the first half... I brought them in at half-time and I could see they still believed that by sticking to what we were trying to do they'd get there," he said.
"Then we have two chances, don't capitalise, they go up and score with their second shot on target -- and after that it's going to be a long, long night."
He said he felt "really proud" of the way Scotland had played and added: "They had no fear. That was a braver, more organised performance, and the families and supporters can be proud of what they did.
"I don't think I can ask any more of them -- you just need a break or a bit of magic sometimes."
Strachan's position is under increasing scrutiny, with Scotland having conceded six goals without reply in their last two qualifiers and already looking outsiders for a place at next year's World Cup.
But he said: "If anyone thinks that at this moment in time I'm thinking about myself then you're wrong, you don't know me.
"They've been tremendous. They might not be the best in the world but nobody can talk [negatively] about passion or anything like that. I'm thinking only about them.
"The game was cruel to them tonight, really cruel to them. In life if you put that much work in then somewhere along the line the game has got to get good for you."