Clark confident squad will be fuelled by ‘unfinished business’

SCOTLAND and Liverpool defender Jenna Clark believes that a sense of unfinished business at the 2019 World Cup is fuelling the drive for Pedro Martinez Losa’s side to make it to next year’s European Championships.

Clark was on the bench on Friday evening as Scotland’s campaign got off to an inauspicious start with a goalless draw against Serbia.

The 22-year-old, however, is confident that Martinez Losa’s squad can get the win they badly need against Slovakia at Hampden on Tuesday night.

“I do think that the way the World Cup ended means that there are players who feel as though we have a bit of unfinished business at a major tournament,” she said.

“But we know that it is about focusing on what is ahead of us in terms of games and making sure that we go out and make a really strong impression on the group.”

Clark watched last summer’s FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with more than just a little bit of envy.

And having seen the manner in which each women’s tournament seems to be bigger than the one that went before, she is desperate to experience it for herself.

“I can dream of it but I can’t imagine it, if that makes sense,” said the former Glasgow City defender.

“I have heard more senior players describe it and what it meant to them to go and experience it and I love hearing all their stories but I can’t truly envisage what it would feel like to go and compete at a European Championship or World Cup.

“It is special to me every single time I pull on the shirt but to do it at that level and on that stage would be incredible. That is the ambition.

“We have a really good mix of youth and experience in this current squad and we all know what the core of senior players achieved for Scotland.

“I don’t remember much about the 2017 Euros because even since then coverage of the women’s game has grown so much and its profile is so much higher.”