Scotland boss Steve Clarke dangles World Cup carrot amid 'going to be difficult' caveat
Scotland boss opens the door for squad hopeful with ‘two positions’ admission
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke admits he has almost made up his mind over which players he’ll be taking to the World Cup this summer - but says there are two positions still up for grabs.
The national team boss is set to name a 55-man preliminary squad for the World Cup later this month, which will then be whittled down to 26 ahead of their tournament opener against Haiti at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 13. They will also face Morocco and Brazil in Group C.
While talismanic trio Scott McTominay, John McGinn and captain Andy Robertson are shoo-ins for the 62-year-old’s squad in North America, a handful of players are still hoping to be handed a final opportunity to impress with just 40 days to go until Scotland’s campaign gets underway.
"Fingers crossed no injuries for the players,” Clarke told Sky Sports. “We've still got time in the season for knocks and niggles, then it's about naming the squad, getting on with the job, and starting to prepare for the tournament. It's quite a short turnaround between the end of the season and our send-off game at Hampden [vs Curacao], so we need to organise all that and make sure we're ready to go.
“It's going to be difficult now [for new names to break into the squad, we've only got two of three weeks of the season to go. I'm more or less set in my mind. If I'm honest, I've probably still got two positions where I haven't quite decided what to do or who to pick. There's also the thought of how many defenders do I take? How many midfielders? How many forwards? Just to get that balance right, so that when we get there the squad is capable of playing the way I want them to play in certain matches, and making sure we are in the best possible shape.”
Clarke was speaking at the PFA Player of the Year awards, where the Scotland head coach received the Special Merit award for leading the national team to their first World Cup since 1998 last November. The first manager to qualify for three major tournaments, he is looking to make more history this summer by taking the team to the knockout stages for the first time.
“It's a reflection of how well the team has done, said Clarke. “I've had help from the coaches, and a massive help from the players. And we've managed to get to a World Cup after so long - 28 years, for a country like Scotland is too long. The reaction since we qualified tells you that.
“It brings its own stresses, and there's lots of things to organise. But it's been enjoyable. To qualify for the World Cup, now our third tournament we've qualified for - the first one was a little bit Covid effected - then obviously going to Germany for Euro 2024 was a great experience. So we do have a little bit more tournament experience.
“We knew what we were looking for, and we've managed to secure some fantastic facilities over in the US that hopefully will help us prepare for the World Cup properly. Hopefully we get it right this time, and get out of the group.”
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