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The National (Scotland)

Sport

Matthew Lindsay

Steve Clarke calls Scotland loss 'bump in the road' and refuses to blame his defence

Steve Clarke Scotland Greece Nations League World Cup John McGinn Tartan Army

STEVE Clarke tonight conceded that he could have made more changes to his Scotland starting line-up following the devastating Nations League promotion-relegation play-off defeat to Greece at Hampden.

However, Clarke, whose men were relegated from the top flight of the competition after losing 3-0 at home in the second leg match and 3-1 on aggregate, insisted the painful reverse was no reason to panic.

The national team will get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway with their opening Group C fixture in September – but their manager expressed hope the result was just a “bump in the road”.

“It is obviously disappointing,” he said after watching his Scotland let in first half goals from Giannis Konstantelias and Kostas Karetsas and a second half strike from Christos Tzolis. “We didn’t play how we can play and the best team on the night won.”

Scotland, who drew with Portugal and beat Croatia and Poland last year to book a spot in the play-offs, went into the match with hopes of holding onto their place among the competition’s elite following their 1-0 win in Piraeus on Thursday night.

But Clarke only made one change to the side which had played over in Greece in midweek – Ryan Christie came in for Lewis Ferguson in midfield - and his charges toiled.

(Image: PA Wire) Asked if he agreed with John McGinn’s description of the performance and result as “embarrassing”, Clarke said, “No. After my time in the game it is better not to use those kind of words. It is better to look at our performance and be objective about it.

“We didn’t have enough energy in the team, Greece had more energy and were a bit sharper. So the best team won on the night.

“We wanted to play down a marker, but we have got the opposite. I think Greece came here and laid down a marker. But we will know what to expect when they come back in October. We will be ready.”

“I am sure the players will be hurting. Listen, to finish such a positive Nations League campaign on such a low note with such a poor performance is something that will hurt the players.

“We will go away and think about it. We have got plenty of time to stew on it before our next competitive game. We have got two friendlies in June and we have to address one or two things and try to be better going forward.”

Clarke continued, “I think maybe it might work in our favour actually because we have to do a similar trip out to Greece in November. Maybe that is something to look at. You go out there, you put in a big shift out there, you have the long travel back.

“Maybe we weren’t quite recovered in time for the game. Not everybody, but some people. It is something that I can certainly look at and try and address.

“It is possible (he didn’t make enough changes). With hindsight, everything is possible. The boys assured me they were all fit and well. I think the first goal gave them a lift. It was really their first dangerous foray forward and they scored with that. After that it became a long night for us. I could have done with a few more legs to be honest.”

The Tartan Army footsoldiers in the sell-out crowd were furious at the poor Scotland performance and they booed their own players and coaching staff at half-time, when Billy Gilmour was substituted in the second half and at the full time whistle.

(Image: PA Wire) But Clarke said, “I didn’t really notice them to be honest. I am focused on other things other than what the supporters are doing. I always have been.”

Scotland fans were shocked at the ease with which Greece scored – but Clarke felt the goals were the responsibility of every player who was wearing a dark blue jersey not just his backline and confessed that he was unhappy with the failure to certain individuals to track back.

“I wasn’t overly disappointed with the defenders,” he said. “I thought the back four did reasonably okay. But I was disappointed with the defending of the team. We didn’t defend as a team. On Thursday night in Greece we defended as a team from back to front. That is why we got punished.”

Asked if he thought he needed to make changes to his squad personnel, formation and tactics before the opening World Cup qualifier, Clarke said, “Listen, like I say, we have had a decent run. This is a bump in the road.

“If there is one thing I have learned over my time in charge of the national team is there are bumps in the road. It is how you react to it and we have to react to this one and make sure that come June we know what we are trying to address and come September we know what we are trying to do which is qualify for the World Cup.

“Obviously we weren’t expecting to get the performance we got tonight, but football can surprise. Hopefully it is just a bump in the road and we can pick up and go again.”

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