Portugal vs Scotland: Nations League – BBC Sport

“It is a quick turnaround, but we have a good group of players. They’ll turn up tomorrow, don’t you worry – and they’ll be fresh and ready to go.”

Portugal, ranked eighth in the world, 40 places above Scotland, began their campaign with a 2-1 win at home to 12th-ranked Croatia.

“It will be a challenge and we have to step up,” Clarke said.

He again insisted that he thought his side played well defensively against the Poles bar a couple of errors that led to goals – and he has been stressing to his players the need to cut those out, especially against such a high-ranked team.

“You have to move on in football,” Clarke said. “It was a good performance and a very disappointing result. Hopefully a very good performance and a better result this time.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored on his international debut at the 2006 World Cup in Germany against Iran, made the headlines by scoring his world record 900th career goal against Croatia.

However, Clarke stressed that the 39-year-old, now playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, is only one of the many top-quality players Portugal have at their disposal.

Opposition manager Roberto Martinez also stressed that his side were “about the collective” rather than individuals.

The Spaniard is no stranger to Clarke, having managed Belgium to victory in the Scot’s first defeat as national boss back in 2019, and retains very strong ties with Scotland following his spell as a player with Motherwell.

He met his wife, Beth, in Lanarkshire, but his father-in-law is putting national loyalty ahead of family on Sunday.

“If I don’t upset him, there’ll be something wrong,” Martinez added.