Defender Christophe Berra believes Scotland must put their World Cup disappointment behind them and begin building for the future.

The Scots fell short of qualifying for the finals in South Africa next year following their defeat last month at the hands of the Netherlands and followed that up on Saturday with a 2-0 friendly defeat against Japan in Yokohama.

But while George Burley's team lost against the World Cup-bound Japanese with a makeshift team, Berra feels it is now time to look forward.

"We want to qualify for every tournament we play in and it was a huge disappointment not to qualify for South Africa," said the 24-year-old.

"But we have to put that behind us now and look forward to the qualifiers for the European championships and push on from there.

"So now we will go back to our club sides and then get ready for the friendly game against Wales, which I think we're all looking forward to."

Berra's impressive performance at the heart of the defence alongside captain Stephen McManus against the Japanese was blighted by an own goal in the 82nd minute which gave the home side the lead.

Takeshi Okada's side eventually ran out 2-0 winners after Keisuke Honda added a second in the final minute.

There was little Berra could have done about the goal he conceded, such was the quality of the low cross sent into the penalty area by substitute Yuichi Komano, and the Wolves defender will now return to action in the Barclays Premier League looking to help his side climb the league table.

"Things have been going well for me at Wolves," said Berra, who joined the club in February while they were still in the Championship. "I've been in good form but we have been a bit unlucky lately.

"We've played some good football and created a lot of chances but we have been caught out a few times too. But that's life in the Premier League, that's what happens. You get punished and you have to learn some hard lessons. We just have to try and keep going forward."

Berra joined Wolves in time to play a role in their climb out of the Championship and into the Premier League and he is still working hard to adapt to the more challenging environment in England's top flight.

"The Championship is played at a very high pace, with a lot more balls in the channels," he said.

"There are a lot of teams who play like that in the Premier League, don't get me wrong, but they are technically better.

"If you switch off for just one second, the ball's in the back of the net. We've set our sights on finishing at least 17th because then we can establish ourselves in the Premier League.

"If you an do that then you can become a massive club, you have the money to attract better players.

"But the first step towards doing that is making sure we stay up."