'There is a process': Steve Clarke lifts lid on mood in embattled Scotland camp ahead of Portugal test

The Scots have lost all three of their Nations League A encounters so far and welcome Portugal to Hampden on Tuesday night desperate to record their first competitive victory since defeating Cyprus in September last year.

Scotland’s latest defeat came on Saturday when they went down 2-1 to Croatia in Zagreb, but Clarke does not detect a crisis in confidence among his squad, even with regulars such as John McGinn missing.

“The players are good, ready to go again,” Clarke said in his pre-match press conference. “There's absolutely no issue whatsoever with that. Like I said before, the players understand where we are in the process, they understand what they have to do to get results. As far as I can see, and hopefully as far as everyone else can see, they're all on board with it.

“I feel as though I'm repeating myself. There is a process that you have to go through, you're playing at the top table against top teams, maybe the results are not going to go for you, but we have to believe in what we're doing.”

Clarke pointed to the number of absentees as a mitigating factor in Scotland travails, with goalkeeper Angus Gunn, defenders Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Ross McCrorie, Scott McKenna, Jack Hendry, Kieran Tierney and Greg Taylor, midfielders McGinn and Lewis Ferguson plus forwards James Forrest and Lawrence Shankland all unavailable for selection due to injury. Clarke has recalled Rangers midfielder Connor Barron from the under-21 squad to freshen up his group of players for the Portugal clash.

“They understand also that the squad could be stronger,” continued Clarke. “Everyone knows that. All these things are there to be seen.

“I don't speak about it too much because I feel it's disrespectful to the boys that are in the squad. We have to concentrate on who we have, who we have here. We have to go out against Portugal. We know we have to be very good at everything we do in the game. Hopefully we can get the result that might just change the whole mood about the place.

“The crowd also have to believe in their team and their players. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't believe in this group of players. We’ve got three players [Craig Gordon, Andy Robertson and McGinn] that are inside the top ten cap appearances for the country.

“After 20 years in the international wilderness, this group of players have been to two major tournaments. They've got promotion to this top level of the Nations League. So I don't understand why people would be doubting about this group of players.

“It's a tough moment. There's no doubt about it. But we believe in ourselves.”

Scotland have never lost five competitive matches in a row and despite coming up against a Portugal side laden with talent and the never-ending forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Clarke believes that they can avoid such a scenario at Hampden.

“We can compete,” added Clarke, whose team lost narrowly to Portugal at the Estadio da Luz last month 2-1. “We showed that in Lisbon. As has just been mentioned, with the backing of the home support here, hopefully we can find another level that gets us the positive result that we all want.”