Pat Nevin: Scotland's World Cup cynics must see bigger picture - and Tyler Fletcher will have got senior approval

Scotland are generally hopeless in friendlies in comparison to when it really matters, which I admit isn’t great build-up to the upcoming encounter with Bolivia in New Jersey at the weekend. However, there are mitigating circumstances. Scotland managers generally, and Steve Clarke particularly, use these games as learning opportunities above all else. Yes, even the score - though you can never admit to that openly - is secondary.

A manager who openly suggests the result isn’t crucial will understandably get short shrift from the paying customers, but he must focus on the bigger picture. If the Bolivian game doesn’t see us marching on a winning high into the tournament, but we then qualify from the group stage, those 90 minutes will be instantly forgotten.

Granted, winning is a good habit and victories are never negative, but in friendlies - or glorified bounce games as I prefer to see them now - the reality is different.

So, what did we learn from Curacao? Lawrence Shankland has clearly muscled his way into pole position for a start against Haiti. His double this week, added to the goal against Denmark, suggests this could be his moment, especially after his leading role in Hearts stunning league campaign.

The likelihood that Scotland will start with two strikers in the opening game also favours the new Rangers man, but is that dangerous now we have lost one of our main midfielders? Clearly everyone is saddened by the loss of Billy Gilmour and his controlling influence. We are also concerned that we do not have an obvious similar replacement for him, but I am not sure Billy would have started against Haiti anyway.

The midfield has to accommodate Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Ben Gannon-Doak and maybe even Andy Robertson if it is a 4-4-2, which I think it should be. That is before considering the justifiable claims of Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean.

The performance and goal from Findlay Curtis was another thing we learned at Hampden. It is only a few weeks since his inclusion raised both eyebrows and hackles, but suddenly it looks a very reasonable wildcard choice. The addition of this teenager was quickly overshadowed by another 19-year-old suddenly being propelled from what looked like nowhere into the final 26-man squad.

Good players will spot a rising star

Much has been said about Tyler Fletcher’s limited first-team experience, and it is stunningly limited for a World Cup international pick. There are those who will be understandable devastated to be overlooked again - not least Lennon Miller - but there must have been good solid reasoning.

Much will have depended on the way young Fletcher played in training. There are some players who are accepted into a group immediately and it is not because they are nice guys. Top players can spot other top players in a heartbeat in those training games.

Gilmour was very young when he was first considered for Scotland, but I still thought we were too slow to introduce him. Every player who worked with him knew he was already good enough at eighteen, even if he had only started a couple of games for Chelsea back then. One of those was admittedly a starring role controlling the midfield against Liverpool, which had the football world cooing.

Fletcher must have impressed the likes of McGinn and McTominay as well as the coaching staff during his short stint with the group. The arguments against are undeniably strong, specifically his youth and inexperience, but consider who he has been training with day in and day out this season.

Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro are fantastic technical players among many others, in a now far more successful Manchester United side under Michael Carrick. This hasn’t stopped Fletcher becoming a fixture on the bench that the manager isn’t afraid of utilising. Scratch just a little below the surface and it may be isn’t such a wild risk.

I have a clear memory of a very young player being introduced to the Scotland squad back in my time and immediately impressing everyone with his raw ability. I was also impressed with his opening line to myself, by then an established squad member and seen as one of the more skilful players. ‘Hey wee man, when ye git the baw, get yer heed up and gie it tae someone who can play, somebody like me.’ Whatever happened to that lad Duncan Ferguson?

Scotland will need players who are adaptable and fearless in the face of top-class opposition. The personnel and indeed the systems will have to ready. Consider the recent friendlies against Japan, Ivory Coast and Curacao. That was 4-2-3-1 against the Japanese, followed by 3-5-2 against the Ivorians, and then the 4-4-2 at the weekend. This was pure preparation for the different ways we will have to line up against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil; the results were secondary.

There is one other point about friendlies which is more important than all the rest. Even with this gilded generation, we are still only good enough when we are playing at, or nearly at, 100 per cent. With the best will in the world, this never happens in friendlies and neither should it. You must keep your best performances for the biggest days.

The 4-2 epic against Denmark was the perfect example, but there have been others in the Steve Clarke era, none of them were in friendlies. Defeat against Japan and Ivory Coast, 40 minutes of fear against Curacao and even if we stumble in the Bolivia game, it was still the Danish game that was the critical one.

To slightly misquote the Tartan Army in full voice: “We can still rise now, and be that nation again.” At least I hope we can.

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