Scotland staged an impressive second-half comeback to beat an under-strength Wales 3-1 in the Carling Nations Cup and deny Gary Speed his first win as manager.

Robert Earnshaw fired the Welsh into a first-half lead but Albion’s James Morrison marked his 25th birthday with the equaliser for Scotland soon after the break, before Kenny Miller and Wolves defender Christophe Berra grabbed a goal apiece.

The last meeting between the two sides resulted in a 3-0 defeat for the Scots in November 2009, which ultimately cost George Burley his job as national coach.

But this result means it will be a straight fight between Scotland and the Republic of Ireland when they meet in the tournament’s final game on Sunday.

Speed said: “I think the tournament has been undermined by attendances and the schedule as well.

“We have been treated like the poor relations in this one. To play two games in three days is ridiculous when Scotland don’t play now until Sunday.

“It is not a level playing field so that undermines the credibility of the tournament.”

He added: “I was delighted with the first half. We played really well. I was delighted with some of the lads that came in.

“I thought they were excellent first half, they played with a lot of confidence, passed the ball about and created some chances.

“We were the better team but it was always a balancing act between players who haven’t played a lot of football and players who have played too much.

“I thought second half Scotland put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t deal with it as well as we should have.”

Scotland boss Craig Levein said: “I don’t think we did particularly badly in the first half at all. We controlled the game for long spells and had numerous chances.

“We made one individual error and were punished for it.

“We got a little bit anxious the last 10-15 minutes of the first half when we tried to over-elaborate and run with the ball too much.

“The team took control in the second half — but you can have all the good play you want, if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net it has a detrimental effect on players’ attitudes. It was important we got the first goal.”