Steve Clarke says Scotland have a squad packed with star quality capable of making an impact on the World Cup stage.
In the early hours of Sunday, the Ayrshire-born boss will become the first Scotland manager since Craig Brown in 1998 to take the national team into football’s biggest tournament.
Clarke received a significant lift ahead of the meeting with Haiti at Boston Stadium after Scott McTominay returned to training, having recovered from a stomach bug.
“I believe I’ve got 26 superstars in this group,” he said. “To place that much responsibility on one individual wouldn’t be fair.
“Everything we’ve built over the past seven years has been about the squad. It’s about everyone staying united and everyone contributing when their moment comes.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke is confident his players can progress from Group C
“Some silly coach used Scott as a centre-back five years ago. But he’s clearly not a centre-back. Since being pushed further up the pitch, he’s been excellent for us.”
‘No, we’re delighted with Scott’s abilities and what he can bring to the team. But we’re going to need another 15 to bring the same if we want to have a positive tournament.’
Clarke, who will be missing Scott McKenna for the opener through a calf issue, was roundly criticised for failing to make an impact at any of the two European Championships the team qualified for.
‘I think the players have spoken about that themselves,’ he added. ‘Obviously, we know the last two tournaments haven’t gone the way that we wanted the tournaments to go. We now have another chance.
‘And that’s credit to the players that they keep qualifying for these major tournaments. It’s great to be here, but we also want to do something special.’
Clarke was asked what lessons he would take from the opening games at the two Euros which both ended in defeat.
‘The Germany one (in 2024) is easy. Don’t get humped!’ he smiled.
‘The Czech Republic game (in 2021) was a little bit different as I actually thought we played okay. Everyone dwells on the scoreline because we lost 2-0, but if you actually watched the game and where we were in the game at the particular time when Patrick Schick decides to shoot from the halfway line, we were actually looking like we might get an equaliser.
‘So, that was a game that just didn’t go our way. The Germany one was obviously more disappointing because we didn’t get anywhere near the level that we can get. And they, as the host nation, obviously enjoyed it.’
Clarke has recently admitted that he didn’t enjoy either of those experiences on a personal level so was determined to favour this one. Asked to expand on that, he said: ‘It’s pretty straightforward. I just didn’t enjoy them.
‘The first one was Covid-affected and it didn’t feel right. Even going to Wembley, where we put on a really good performance and got a 0-0 draw, there weren’t that many people inside the stadium. It didn’t feel like a major tournament.
‘The other one was a big disappointment because of the way it started the tournament. We let ourselves down and we had that bad feeling.
‘With this tournament, hopefully we have learned from the experience.’
Clarke admitted he didn’t enjoy his experience at a major tournament back in 2024
Clarke revealed that his family are all in town to witness a moment of history first hand.
‘It’s going to be great,’ he said. ‘I’ve got my wife, my three children, my five grandchildren are here as well as my two daughter-in-laws. So there’s a big Clarke clan here and it’s going to be great.
‘Obviously not many people get the chance to take their country to a World Cup. We’re going to try to enjoy it but obviously the game will dictate the circumstances.’
Stressing that getting a win over the group outsiders will be extremely tough, Clarke said: ‘We know it’s going to be a difficult game. It’s the first time in 28 years that we’ve been here and Haiti haven’t been here since 1974.
‘They are also a proud nation and they are going to be 100 per cent committed, the same as we are.
‘We know they have qualities which could cause us problems but we have to deal with those problems and then we have to bring our best game to the pitch when we have the ball. Hopefully that’s enough to win the game.’
