Scotland friendlies key to ‘stake claim’ for Euros, says assistant John Carver

Friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland will be “very important” in terms of fine tuning the Scotland squad for Euro 2024, says assistant coach John Carver.

Scotland amassed an impressive 17 points from eight qualifying games to finish as runners-up behind Spain.

However, Steve Clarke’s side are on a run of seven games without a win and have lost their past five friendlies.

Scotland meet Gibraltar in Portugal on Monday and welcome Finland to Hampden seven days before they kick off the finals against Germany in Munich on 14 June.

Clarke must cut two players from his training squad of 28 following the match against the Finns.

“Let’s not forget, we’ve got two games before we go out to Germany, so they’re going to be very important. Players are going to get time on the pitch.

“It’s an opportunity for them to stake a claim. We haven’t made a final decision.

“The majority of the group will play in the two games, it’s about giving them some game time as well. Obviously we’ve got one or two lads that we need to see play as well and prove their fitness and we need to get back to winning ways.”