ALL-TIME LOW

Clarke’s men set for the worst-ever Hampden crowd

SCOTLAND face performing in front of the lowest-ever crowd for a competitive home international at Hampden this evening as the Tartan Army prepares to stay away from the Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino.

As of yesterday afternoon, the Scottish FA was reporting ticket sales of just over 10,000 — a figure that includes those who took up season-ticket packages at the start of the campaign.

Scotland’s previous low crowd for a qualifier came in 1975 when just 11,375 turned out to watch a European Championships preliminary against Romania.

A 4-0 drubbing in Russia on Thursday — the team’s fourth consecutive defeat — has done nothing to improve demand and, with rain forecast today, the players face playing in front of a near-empty Hampden.

National coach Steve Clarke is set to freshen up his side for the game, with Sunderland goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin in line for a first competitive cap in

place of David Marshall. Scott McTominay, available after suspension, is also likely to start, while Lawrence Shankland and Ryan Christie, who both started on the bench in Moscow, are also in the frame.

‘It was pre-planned, always going to be the case, that Jon would play,’ said Clarke. ‘David Marshall’s been the No 1 since I came into the job.

‘Something might happen to David over the next few months, so you need to have another goalkeeper who has had some minutes on the pitch.

‘I want Jon to have the experience of playing for the national team at Hampden. It’s important to take that chance.’

San Marino, themselves thumped 9-0 by Belgium in midweek, are the lowest of FIFA’s 210 ranked national teams, yet Clarke is wary of underestimating the side rooted to the bottom of Group I.

‘I definitely don’t treat San Marino lightly,’ he added. ‘We’re not in a position where we can treat anybody lightly. We’re in a position where we have to win a game of football. Sometimes it’s hard to win any game.

‘Yes, it would be nice to be able to give one or two a cap, but I have to decide which is the best team to get a result.

‘Don’t forget, the other night Liam Palmer got his second cap, Mikey Devlin got his first cap, John Fleck got his first cap.’

Meanwhile, San Marino boss Franco Varrella insists he takes no encouragement from Scotland’s current form slump — because he fears his players are even more susceptible to a fragile mentality.

San Marino have lost each of their Euro 2020 qualifiers without scoring.

‘Over the past two weeks, I have watched a lot of Scotland games on video,’ said Varrella. ‘They had lots of aerial problems in their games against Belgium.

‘But, in my experience, mental fragility evaporates. My worry is that even if they are not at their top level, we could be at a lower level.

‘If you talk about mental fragility, then look at our second half against Belgium. We went 30 minutes without conceding a goal, then conceded four in 15.

‘It’s maybe more a lack of confidence (for Scotland) but that is normal if you have played four games against Belgium and Russia.’