Former Scotland captain Darren Fletcher has urged Alex McLeish to rethink the controversial 3-5-2 formation that he deployed in Thursday’s dispiriting defeat by Israel.

Scotland crashed to a 2-1 UEFA Nations League loss in Haifa on an alarming night that saw the hosts rack up 25 attempts at goal.

McLeish again opted for a system to accommodate recognised left-backs Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney.

However, Stoke City midfielder Fletcher, who has 80 caps but has not featured since last August, believes McLeish needs to find a place in the side for creative players such as James Forrest, who came on in the second half, and Ryan Fraser.

Fletcher said: “The first thing he will be questioning is the formation, it’s a really difficult formation to play and coach, it needs a lot of time and international managers don’t get a lot of time.

“I think it eliminates some of our better players from the team, like James Forrest, like Ryan Fraser, who are out and out wingers and who are arguably our most dangerous players, really quick.

“By playing this formation you struggle to get them in the team so I think he’s really going to have to look at that going forward.

“You can’t have players like James, I know Ryan Fraser is injured, not in the team.

“They’re too dangerous, they’re quick and direct.

“The problem we’ve got is that we have two fantastic left-backs in Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson and this is where the dilemma comes from.

“By playing this formation they’re both playing out of position – it’s something he will have to look at but whether he changes his mind remains to be seen.”

Fletcher also believes defender Charlie Mulgrew being replaced at half-time by Scott McKenna due to injury was a telling factor in the defeat.

That left an inexperienced rearguard of John Souttar, who picked up his second yellow card in the 61st minute, Tierney and Scott McKenna.

Celtic player Tierney scored an own goal to hand victory to Israel after Dor Peretz cancelled out Mulgrew’s first-half penalty.

Fletcher, speaking to Sky Sports, added: “I really feel we missed Charlie Mulgrew when he went off, it left us with three really inexperienced central defenders and I think you noticed that.

“Charlie is probably still our best defender and one of our most experienced players – you sometimes need that experienced head and know-how.

“Allan McGregor has made some fantastic saves and we weren’t creating any chances or getting up the pitch, we weren’t even a threat on the counter attack.”