STEVE CLARKE insists his players deserve a pat on the back for taking Scotland to the brink of another major tournament play-off.

But praise for the man at the helm was in short supply on the Hotline despite Clarke steering us to four straight wins on the road to Qatar 2022.

Tuesday’s nerve-shredding 1-0 win in the Faroes keeps the Scots four points clear in second spot but Clarke was in the firing line for his team selection.

Robert Robertson, Barnsley, said: “Clarke only had two changes to make to the starting XI – Grant Hanley into the back four because he’s a defender for Scott McTominay who isn’t. Kevin Nisbet in for Che Adams because he’s a striker and Ryan Christie isn’t!

“Go with the rest of the lads that got the job done on Saturday, hardly rocket science. Kris Boyd was right, the ‘Fraser experiment’ didn’t work. Clarke gave Nathan Patterson 10 minutes and he pulled him out of the mire with a fantastic delivery into the box.”

Tim Gibbens said: “You could practically squeeze the entire population of the Faroe Islands into Hampden Park. Never mind reminiscing about the halcyon days of Archie Macpherson commentating on Scotland at a World Cup finals – nowadays, we struggle to beat an archipelago!”

Hotline regular Scott Gowers claimed yesterday that Alex McLeish lost his job after leading the Scots to a second-placed qualification.

But Sam Morton, Edinburgh, was quick to correct his error and said: “What second-place finish by Alex McLeish is Scott Gowers on about? McLeish was sacked following the shambles in Kazakhstan. He actually won the Nations League group but against similar-ranked teams, but finishing second from a pot