Clarke’s Killie magic ‘will work for Scots’

Stuart Findlay is confident that Steve Clarke will in time work his Kilmarnock magic with Scotland.

The 24-year-old Killie centre-back enjoyed working under the former Rugby Park boss who received widespread praise last season when he took the Ayrshire side into third place in the Premiership and into Europe, after they had been bottom of the table when he took over in October 2017.

Clarke replaced Alex McLeish in the summer but has recorded only one win in four games – albeit two fixtures were against world No 1 Belgium.

Findlay is hoping to win his first cap after being called into the squad earlier this week for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifying double-header against Russia and San Marino as a replacement for injured Liam Cooper and he has complete faith in Clarke’s methods.

He said: “I wasn’t involved for the last squad but I was there for the first one and you could tell that he did things a similar way to the way at Kilmarnock because obviously it was a winning formula at Kilmarnock.

“I have a lot of confidence that it will breed success for Scotland as well.

“I have worked with him long enough to know exactly how he works and how he gets the boys playing his way.

“I have full confidence that the results for Scotland will be the way that we need them very shortly.

“I know because I have worked so long with him that I have trust in him that things will go the way that Scotland probably expect and we deserve to be at.

“It is about having faith. If you have faith in the manager that I know the boys at Kilmarnock definitely had and I know the boys at Scotland have, it can only be a good thing.”