Clarke wanted for long stay

SFA boss Ian Maxwell hopes to persuade Steve Clarke to stay long-term and is already drafting up a new deal.

Scotland boss Clarke (inset) is under contract with the national side until after the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

He has been linked with the vacant Celtic job and Maxwell has no doubt there could be more clubs in the queue after Euro 2020.

But the SFA chief executive wants to keep the boss in place way beyond the next campaign.

Maxwell said: “I think he’s contracted until the end of the World Cup in December 2022.

But absolutely we’ll be talking about (a new deal).

“We want to keep him. We are absolutely delighted with the job he has done.

“We’ll see how far we get in the Euros and we want to qualify for the World Cup in 2022 and hopefully he’s the Scotland manager for a long time to come and we keep qualifying for tournaments.”

There will be plenty banging on the doors of Hampden if Scotland do the business in the next few weeks but Maxwell admits he loves hearing the manager is a man in demand. He said: “If people are talking about that, I’m delighted. When was the last time people were talking about a Scotland manager moving on in a positive sense? “He’s done fantastically well.” Clarke is in Spain with the Scotland squad as they gear up for the big kick-off against the Czech Republic on June 14. The Scots face Holland in the Algrave tomorrow night before a final tune up in Luxembourg on Saturday.