Clarke ready to take a punt on Che
Scotland boss could turn to new boy for World Cup crunch with Israel
Scotland boss Steve Clarke is weighing up whether to take a World Cup punt on Che Adams tonight.
Having given the former England Under-20s striker his debut off the subs’ bench against Austria last week, Clarke says he is now tempted to throw him in from the start against Israel.
Scotland’s qualification rivals will have 5,000 of their fans at the Tel Aviv tie thanks to a loosening of Covid regulations in the country.
And with victory essential for the country to keep on track for the
Finals in Qatar next year, the national coach is calling on his players to use the atmosphere generated to fire themselves up for the tie.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke is ready to throw Che Adams in against Israel.
The former England Under-20 striker was given a surprise call-up for the country’s three World Cup qualifiers, the second of which will be played in Tel Aviv tonight.
And having eased the 24-year-old in with a run off the substitutes’ bench in the 2-2 draw against Austria on Thursday, Clarke admits he fancies the element of surprise Adams could offer in a fixture that has a very familiar feeling to it.
“All the games against Israel have been tight,” said Clarke (inset), ahead of what will be the fourth meeting between the nations in the last 15 months.
“It’s a game where we have to go and be positive. The last couple of times we’ve been in Israel we haven’t got the right result, so we try to do it properly this time and get the result we need.
“Meeting them again they will be able to second-guess what we’re doing much the same as we can second-guess them.
“So it is about small margins and I am tempted to throw Che in. We have good options up front and he is one of them.
“Lyndon Dykes fits into the way we play well and I thought he did well for us again the other night.
“Ryan Christie was lively against Austria, a little bit unlucky in the first half when he got the finish on his right foot, and young Kevin Nisbet has looked good in training.
“Every game’s a huge game when you’re playing or managing your country. I’ve said before it’s a section where there’ll be a few twists and turns – three or four closely matched teams.
“You have to win as many games as you can to get the points tally. You look at games like this and you think: ‘We want the three points, of course we do’.”
If there is a fresh element to tonight’s tie, it is that it is not a behind closed doors affair.
A loosening of Covid regulations will allow 5,000 fans in to the Bloomfield Stadium and Clarke is optimistic their presence will benefit both sets of players.
“It will be nice that there will be a little crowd in as well so there will be an atmosphere,” he said.
“We will mention it to the players beforehand because that is hopefully something we can feed off.
“They have been playing in empty stadiums so having an atmosphere might work in our favour I think.
“We know the task in hand. Israel tend to get talked down a little bit because they’re a fourth-pot team but they’re a good team, we know that from previous meetings.” If Adams cannot deliver, Scotland’s best hope is likely to be John Mcginn, scorer of an acrobatic bicycle kick against Austria.
“We don’t put the reins on John. He is an attacking midfield player and has an eye for goal. “He has already scored eight times for his country, approaching 30 caps. He’s still relatively young so he can look forward to a few more goals.
“Hopefully, he’ll get at least one more on Sunday.”
Scotland are meanwhile set to play the Republic of Ireland in either Spain or France in a friendly ahead of the Euros.
Clarke has confirmed his squad will be based outside the country for the Finals and wants two warm-up games, both of which, he says, could be played abroad.
He has admitted a game against the Republic of Ireland, who likewise are searching for opposition, is a possibility, though details are still to be confirmed.