Steve Clarke says Scotland are feeling the heat after struggle against Gibraltar

STEVE CLARKE has revealed his Scotland stars are feeling the pressure on the eve of their greatest test.

But boss Clarke told fans to give his squad a break as they are only human.

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He said: “Don’t forget these players are nervous. You have to understand they are human, they have emotions like everybody else.

“They have the biggest tournament coming up for the country next week, and they all have half a mind on their Germany game already.

“It sounds terrible to say that, but that’s just the way it is. It’s natural.

“I think probably what happened with Lyndon Dykes getting injured in training the other day spooked them a little bit as well.

“People won’t think of that, they just think of the excitement. But until you’re actually on your way to Germany there’s always a doubt in the back of your mind.

“They want to get on the plane, to be flying to the Euros, to be involved in what’s going to be a fantastic tournament.

“You have to make allowances for that.”

Clarke also vowed to have his squad working non-stop on shooting practice, after notching just two goals in three matches so far this year.

Against a part-time Gibraltar outfit who had shipped 14 goals to France, Scotland blew that many chances on a frustrating night in Faro.

Clarke added: “It comes down a bit to confidence. People are searching for that at this level.

“Look at Lawrence Shankland, he didn’t have any clear chances where you’re thinking, ‘Go on, he’s in there’.

“But maybe something we need to look at is his positioning, especially on set-plays where he was maybe too far out from the centre of goal.

“There are always things you can look at.

So, what can we do about it? Keep practising in training. The pitch in Faro was really sticky, but I’m not going to dress it up ? we should have passed the ball a little better.

“We’ve been training with the ball on wet pitches, but this wasn’t one you could dribble on.

“We still had lots of chances, though, a little more quality’s required.”

Clarke has training sessions today and tomorrow, before Friday night’s final friendly at home to Finland in front of more than 40,000 expectant Scotland fans.

Before that game, though, he also has the job of breaking hearts as he cuts his squad back to the 26 allowed to travel, knowing he might still have to ask them to play.

Clarke said: “It’s quite a tricky one. You can put the team in at midnight on Friday, so you could tell someone on Thursday that they are not going.

“Then we pick up an injury on the Friday and you have to give them a cuddle and say, ‘I love you, and you ARE going’. We’ll find a way.”

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