Steve Clarke on Lyndon Dykes, ‘unfamiliar’ line-up & ‘best phone call I’ve ever had’

Clarke says the squad are “all really disappointed” for Lyndon Dykes, who will miss Euro 2024 with a training ground injury.

Dykes “has been a pivotal player” for Scotland, Clarke adds.

The head coach says the phone call to offer Dykes the chance to play for Scotland was “one of the best telephone conversations I’ve ever had”.

Clarke confirms Dykes suffered a non-contact ankle injury caused by “the way he landed”.

On a potential replacement, Clarke says: “I’ve given myself two or three days to think about it. There’s no like-for-like replacement for Lyndon. I’ll have a look at what’s around and we’ll go from there.”

On the prospect of calling up someone from the Under-21s, he adds: “Possibly but not necessarily”.

The Scotland boss confirms Scott McTominay, Stuart Armstrong and John Souttar will not play against Gibraltar on Monday, but says he is “pretty confident they will be good” for the Finland friendly on Friday.

Clarke will provide game time to “the ones that need minutes” on Monday, which could perhaps mean “a slightly unfamiliar line-up”.