My lads are what we’re Plane crazy about trying to achieve
Clarke dismisses Fraser absence and reveals suspended Dykes wanted to fly 3000 miles to back his Scots team-mates
RYAN FRASER will have some explaining to do once Steve Clarke takes care of this week’s momentous duties.
The Newcastle star’s commitment to the national cause has come under serious question after he was pictured training alongside new Magpies boss Eddie Howe just 48 hours after telling Clarke he couldn’t report for Scotland because of a calf injury.
Clarke will give Fraser a chance to account for those actions in due course.
Right now, however, the national boss has more pressing matters as he sets his sights on laying out a path which could take the country to their first World Cup since 1998.
But Clarke did have time ahead of tonight’s huge Chisinau crunch with Moldova to make clear that Fraser’s apparent wavering devotion levels are no indicator as to the strength of the rest of his squad’s dedication.
If anything, the Scotland boss saw the conviction he holds in the spirit running through his squad reinforced.
Suspended striker Lyndon Dykes volunteered to make the 3000-mile round trip to Chisinau just so he could be in the stands at the Zimbru Stadium to cheer them on to the victory which will seal a play-off spot and leave the nation 180 minutes away from Qatar.
And realising that desert dream is the priority for Clarke. As for Fraser, his excuses can wait. Asked how he felt about seeing pictures of the winger kitted out in club gear on Tuesday, having pulled out of the Scots squad on Sunday night, the Hampden boss said: “The best way to answer that one is to say I have a squad of players who want to be here. They’re all here so let’s talk about those boys.
“The situation with Ryan will resolve itself in time.
“Listen, it is what it is. This isn’t the time to talk about somebody who’s not in the squad.
“We’ve built a really strong group. I even had to persuade Lyndon Dykes it was a bad idea to fly to Moldova!
“He’s not with us just now as he’s suspended for the game but he phoned us up and said he wanted to fly to Moldova just to watch the game!
“He was prepared to get on a plane for three hours to watch the team and then fly back with them to Edinburgh.
“I managed to persuade him that he didn’t need to do that.
“With the Denmark game on Monday, that wasn’t such a good idea.
“But it shows you the level of commitment I have from the boys in the squad. That’s what we’re building and I’d rather talk about those people.
“That commitment is massive for us.
“It’s why, when you need to score a late goal, that spirit and togetherness is there. That’s when it shines through. You turn draws into wins because of the team spirit and the feeling among this group of players. “That’s vitally important to us and what we’re trying to do.” Clarke has made a habit of righting the wrongs of the past two decades since taking over the national team. Qualification for last summer’s Euros wiped away the inferiority complex that had weighed Scotland down. There is now a sense of selfbelief that has refused to buckle even when March’s opening qualifiers left us with so little wiggle room that it has taken five straight wins to put us back ahead of the
You turn draws into wins because of the team spirit and the feeling among these players STEVE CLARKE ON THE BOND IN THE SCOTLAND SQUAD
chasing pack for second spot.
Now his team can rack up another achievement by becoming the first Scotland outfit to out-perform their seeding since Alex McLeish’s men fell just short of reaching Euro 2008.
Clarke – whose team were drawn out of Pot Three – said: “We will obviously be happy to secure second place in the group if that is what we can do over the next two matches.
“If we’ve done that it means we’ve jumped a place in the seedings to finish in a play-off place.
“But the fact we dropped so low in the seedings was disappointing.
“From within we know we are improving. I have spoken consistently over the last 12 months about seeing
improvement in this group.
“If we can do something tangible, and finishing second would be a tangible, measurable achievement, then other people can decide whether it is success.”
Scotland reached Euro 2020 thanks to the Nations League but Clarke would prefer to reach next year’s finals through a more conventional route.
He said: “If we can finish second in this group and then get through the play-offs, it will feel a little bit more like coming through the front door rather than the back door.”
There is work yet to be done if Scotland are to take their seat at the world football’s top table, not least against a Moldova side desperate to make amends for a woeful campaign that sees them three points adrift of the Faroe Islands.
The 1000-strong band of Tartan Army soldiers who have made their way to Chisinau will remember all too well how that Euro 2008 bid came crashing down in Tbilisi as McLeish’s men fell flat in sight of the finish line.
But Clarke does not see a repeat of that late collapse.
He said: “We’ve proved this group has a mentality where they don’t want to drop silly points.
“OK, we left it late against Israel. And against the Faroes.
“But we got the job done and if we have to leave it late against Moldova before we secure the points we need then that’s what this group will do.”