Alex McLeish refused to point the finger of blame at goalkeeper Jordan Archer following Scotland's 2-0 defeat by Peru.

The 25-year-old Millwall stopper made his bow for the national team at the Estadio Nacional in Lima as the Scots played the part of warm-up opposition against the World Cup-bound Peruvians.

Archer was given the nod ahead of Scott Bain and Jon McLaughlin and looked on course to repay his manager's faith after making a couple of tidy saves.

But his sliced clearance before the break would lead to a penalty that was coolly dispatched by Christian Cueva.

And matters were made worse for the debutant in the second half as Jefferson Farfan's close-range effort slipped through his grasp.

McLeish, however, defended Archer's showing, instead admitting that the Scots' defeat was down to face opposition that are just of a higher calibre.

He said: "Our goalkeeper felt that maybe he could have stayed at the first goal.

"But I wouldn't blame him for the second goal because it was a shot from point-blank range from Farfan, very close to the goal and maybe our defenders could have done better.

"We believe the first goal was a big setback.

"We do have a lot of new players, a lot of players coming from the Scottish league which has not been recognised as a good league but I was very proud of them."

He added: "They (Peru) are at a better level than us, we have to be honest on that.

"But I don't think that is a secret.

"Yes, maybe we had to do other things to try to get some kind of result but overall, the organisation of the team was good and the players' concentration was good.

"Some players haven't played at this level before but I do see a very good level in the Peru team."

Scotland now turn their attention to their second friendly of the summer tour as they head to Mexico for a fixture at the Azteca.