Steve Clarke swithering over Scotland change as he offers George Hirst first impression verdict

The first leg of the Nations League play-off on Thursday will be played at the sold-out Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus on the outskirts of Athens.

Scotland have not played Greece for 30 years but will play them four times this year in both this two-legged tie, with the second game at Hampden on Sunday, and then World Cup qualifying. The Greeks have won five of their last six games and are in a good place under manager Ivan Jovonavic.

The last three home matches have all been sell-outs and Clarke sounded as if he was not about to take any chances blooding youngsters.

He has called up four uncapped players for the tie, including teenage pair Lennon Miller and James Wilson. George Hirst was also drafted in late after papers confirming he was switching eligibility from England to Scotland were completed.

Clarke has been handed a welcome extra dilemma with the return of Kieran Tierney. The Arsenal left-back's presence for the first time since Euro 2024 has raised the possibility Clarke could switch back to a back five to accommodate him. The manager changed to a back four with considerable approval from fans for the Nations League group games at the end of last year.

But he explained that this approach was helped by having Ben Doak as an outlet. The winger is currently injured and Clarke conceded he was swithering.

“I am always thinking of changing things,” he said at a pre-match press conference in Piraeus. “You will have to wait to see the team on the pitch. But listen, it (Tierney's return) gives us another option. We have discussed it and spoke about it and hopefully we can come up with the right solution for the game. The team has been good with a back four. We changed the whole way we approached the game in the Nations League in the group stages.

“We went to a four and it worked well because we also had the little outlet on the outside with the pace of Ben (Doak). We did not have the option of putting Kieran in the team. It has given us a lot to think about.”

Clarke is alert to the passionate atmosphere Scotland will encounter at the 33,000-capacity stadium. After four months without a game, he hopes his team hit the ground running again after successive wins against Croatia and Poland at the end of last year.

“It always feel like a fresh start to me after that winter break,” he said. “It's a long time from November to March before you get your group of players back together. It's nice, like I said earlier, it's nice to have four new faces around you.

“But a bit of youth as well, which is always good. And hopefully, a little glimpse of the future. But obviously, we've got the boys that have done ever so well.

“We've got lots of experience, lots of caps. And maybe the situation, the atmosphere here tomorrow and the opponents that we're playing needs an experienced team on the pitch.

“You want the strongest atmosphere you can get if you're a player,” he added. “You've got to come here and enjoy this type of occasion, this type of atmosphere.

“We're used to it. We've played against good teams away from home before. Recently we've had a couple of good results away from home.

"Hopefully we can get another one here tomorrow night. It's always good for the players to play in a strong atmosphere, to enjoy it. For them, they've managed to get good results against strong teams in their home games.”

Clarke reported that Hirst had shown up well in training after his late call up and could feature at some point. "He's a big lad," he said. "He's had injury problems this season, so he's been a little bit in and out of the Ipswich team. He's scored some goals recently, which is good. I’ve always liked him.

“He's similar in style and stature to Lyndon Dykes, who misses out with an injury. Hopefully he can bring as much to the team as Lyndon has always brought to the team.

“He's a target player. We've always tried to have that type of forward player because we feel we've got goals in the midfield. I pray George can help us to maybe score a few more goals.”