Injury-hit Scotland look to turn things around against Croatia

This time 12 months ago, Scotland were in Spain hoping to gain the result that would book a place at the Euros after a stunning start to their qualifying campaign.

A 2-0 defeat in Seville meant Steve Clarke’s side had to wait to book their flights to Germany but the performance, which included a controversially disallowed Scott McTominay goal, kept the sense of momentum around the national team.

A year later, the team are on the road again in search of a positive result – “desperate” in the words of Kenny McLean – but this time to stop a miserable run of results.

Scotland have just one win from their last 14 games, a friendly over Gibraltar being the only time the players have tasted victory since last September.

That run includes a disappointing Euros campaign but also defeats in the opening Nations League double-header against Poland and Portugal.

Saturday’s League A1 match against Croatia offers the opportunity to turn things around, and to earn the first points since Scotland were promoted to the top tier of the competition. Clarke is confident his side can find their feet at this level but his task has been made harder as the squad has been hit with a raft of injuries.

Full-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson remain out, and midfielder Lewis Ferguson is still making his way back after knee surgery.

Talismanic midfielder John McGinn misses out, with Kieran Tierney still unavailable. Since the squad has been named, Angus Gunn, Greg Taylor and Lawrence Shankland have all withdrawn.

Those absences, along with a slight evolution in the squad, present opportunities for other to show what they can do, and Aberdeen’s perfect start to the Premiership season has seen a trio of their players: Nicky Devlin, Jack McKenzie and Kevin Nisbet called up to the squad.

Clarke’s team selection is likely to be weighing heavy on his mind as he prepares for Saturday evening’s match. The need for the three points to lift the Tartan Army and build confidence ahead of the World Cup qualifiers is obvious but the manager hasn’t managed to find a winning team against top-class opposition for quite some time.

Nevertheless, Clarke has seen things to like in the last two performances despite the final scores. Scotland showed character and ability when bouncing back from two goals down to level with Poland at Hampden before Grant Hanley’s painful mistake gave away a late penalty and a point.

After that setback, few had high hopes for the side that travelled to take on a Portugal side packed with high-level players. Scotland led from the seventh minute to the 54th and were on course for a point before Cristiano Ronaldo’s 88th minute winner. Clarke is unlikely to be thinking he has to rip up everything up and start again.

Croatia began their Nations League campaign with defeat away to Portugal by the same scoreline. Zlatko Dalic’s side then got points on the board with a 1-0 win over Poland, when Luka Modric scored the only goal.

Euro 2024 was a disappointment for Modric and his teammates as well. Two draws and a defeat meant a group stage exit as the worst of the third-placed teams. It was a undisputable low for a nation used to punching far, far above their weight at international tournaments.

But the one defeat came against winners Spain, and one point was from a draw with Italy when Croatia had led until the 98th minute. Scotland will still be facing a team of undoubted ability.

Clarke has often made the point that playing against better opposition will improve Scotland over time. His assistant John Carver repeated that this week when assessing the challenge the team faces in the next four days.

“We are in a difficult Nations League group but that’s because of the success we have had, getting promoted,” the Scotland coach said.

“We might have to suffer now but I guarantee we will be better in the long-term for this.

“We know this is an important competition but we have the World Cup draw coming round in December and all of our planning is towards that.”

After a year of crushing results, the Tartan Army will hope that the short-term suffering is over and that the clash in Zagreb can bring a course correction and put Scotland on an upward trajectory again.