Steve Clarke doesn't want Scotland to be "one tournament wonders" and is already thinking ahead to the next World Cup and beyond after singing a new deal.
The Scotland boss has committed his future after penning a new contract until 2026 on the eve of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign kicking off against Cyprus at Hampden. After guiding the nation to their first appearance at a major finals in over two decades with a famous penalty shoot-out win over Serbia to reach Euro 2020, Clarke's men missed out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after playoff defeat to Ukraine.
Now it's all eyes on Germany in just over a year's time. Having been drawn in a qualification group alongside Spain and Norway, the consensus is that Scotland are fighting it out for second place with Erling Haaland and Co. After winning our Nations League group again, a playoff spot is already secured. But not having to rely on at least one nervy 90 minutes is the preference, and Clarke wants the country to be regulars again, even if he won't be around to lead the team in all of them.
"For me, there seems to have been continual improvements," Clarke said. "We've improved a lot from when I first came in until now. The difficult bit now is the next improvements are very difficult to make. All the small details are going to add up as to whether we can be really competitive and to start qualifying for tournaments.
"I don't want to go to Germany in 2024 and not go in 2026. I'm looking ahead to '28, '30 and 32. I want Scotland to be qualifying - I won't be here by the way! But you want the future to look good. You want to be competitive all the time and go into every qualifying campaign thinking: 'You know what, we've got a chance of qualifying.'"
"There's pressure. I want yo go to Germany 2024 and so does this group of players. We've said consistently since we qualified for the first tournament, we don't want to be one tournament wonders. We want to go to another one, so this is the next chance and we're determined to be there."
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