Clarke on injuries, fresh faces & Gordon’s return

Clarke says it is one of the toughest squads he has had to select amid a “testing time” with injuries

Craig Gordon said to him he would not stop at 75 caps and its testament to his professionalism and mentality that he is back in the squad

Nicky Devlin and Liam Lindsay have both had good club careers and now is their chance to compete for international recognition with a “horrendous run of injuries defensively”

Amid the list of injuries generally in football Clarke says it needs to be “looked at” and players should be consulted on schedule changes

It’s a “big blow” to lose set-piece coach Austin MacPhee but a bigger blow for him with his father’s illness. Scotland will use another analyst for the games against Croatia and Portugal and then assess whether they will replace MacPhee.

The Scotland boss expects a “tough test” in both matches this month