Silly to think that we’d play like Killie

Steve Clarke reckons he has blown away Tartan Army fears that his Scotland side would play like Kilmarnock.

The national boss got the call to Hampden after taking Killie to a third place finish by making them hard to beat.

Some feared he would do the same at Scotland but instead he has drilled them into a system and style of play that took them to Euro 2020 and has fans flocking back to support them.

Clarke said: “It’s nice for the Tartan Army to come along now and enjoy watching a Scottish team play.

“As a coach, you can only play a style that suits the players you’ve got. A lot of people maybe looked at the way I set up my Kilmarnock team, but I had to do that in a different way to get results.

“When you’re working with players at this level, it gives you the opportunity to play a different style of football.

“That’s what we’ve done. Our recent games have shown we can have our fair share of possession now and the more you have, the more chances you’ll create. You’re also going to concede less if you’re controlling the ball.

“We still gave up some chances against Poland so we’re not sitting here thinking we’ve cracked it.

“We can still get better and have to keep improving.”

Clarke (above) admits he had to change personnel on and off the pitch after damaging defeats early in his reign to the likes of Belgium and Russia.

But now, almost three years into the job, he says his biggest challenge is leaving quality players out of his squad. He said: “Those early defeats let me know that whatever we were doing, it wasn’t right.

“The mix of the group wasn’t right and we decided as a coaching staff – a different coaching staff because we had to change that as well – to find a way that would benefit us.

“We had to find a core group of players we could rely on. Now, the difficult decision for me is trimming the squad down when everyone is available.”