Steve Clarke has sent an impassioned plea to Scotland supporters urging them to respect Ukraine’s national anthem – before roaring Scotland one step closer to the World Cup Finals.
Clarke and his players arrived back in Glasgow on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the play-off semi-final as the clock ticks down to what is sure to be an emotional outpouring at Hampden.
But, while Scotland’s manager wants the red carpet rolled out for the visitors, he reserves the right to charge up the patriotism of the Tartan Army and is calling on them to help carry his players all the way to a winner-takes-all showdown with Wales in Cardiff on Sunday night.
He said: “The fans can be massive for us, massive.
“We all saw the power of the fans in the Israel game which was the biggest indicator of that.
“When you’ve got the fans on side and they’re behind you, the team can play right to the end.
“It took a late, late goal to beat Israel.
“So the fans can be massive for us. We will respect the Ukrainian national anthem and we will applaud the Ukrainian national anthem.
“Then from there they have to sing their hearts out, get behind the team and drive the team on.”
Clarke, though, revealed yesterday that rising star Nathan Patterson will not be fit enough in time to face Ukraine tonight as the Everton youngster continues his recovery from ankle surgery.
That means Stephen O’Donnell, Anthony Ralston and Aaron Hickey will be fighting it out for the right-back role.
Clarke will also be requiring a replacement for the absent Kieran Tierney on the left side of his three-man central defence, the Arsenal man failing to recover in time from a knee injury that he suffered in March.
The manager said: “Nathan won’t make the first game. The time-line is just too short.
“He hasn’t aggravated the injury, he’s just run out of time.
“It was always going to be tight and he’s actually a week ahead of schedule which is great.
“It means his rehab has gone really well but he won’t be ready for the
first game.
“We have good options all over the pitch as we have picked a lot of bodies to cover for various situations and we sort of half pre-empted this one with Nathan anyway.”
Asked if Patterson might be declared fit to face the Welsh on Sunday if Scotland make it that far, Clarke nodded: “Yes, possibly.
“We’ll have to see how he gets on through the week – but he looks good.”
And Clarke stopped short of ruling out the possibility of reverting to a flat back four while he makes last-minute adjustments to his line-up for this evening.
The 58-year-old said: “It would obviously be really difficult now to change the system.
“It’d be difficult, but it wouldn’t be impossible because I think I’m a good coach and I have intelligent players.
“If we had to go with a back four we could go with a back four no problem. I also feel that we have the tools to play that way.”
