Steve Clarke had to go through the horrible part of being Scotland boss by leaving Lennon Miller out of his 26-man World Cup squad.
There was heartbreak for the 19-year-old Udinese midfielder as former Scotland defender Clarke opted for five forwards for the tournament in North America.
John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie form a strong midfield section alongside wingers Findlay Curtis and Ben Gannon-Doak.
Ross Stewart, last capped in 2022, returned as a striking option and George Hirst retained his place along with regulars Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams and Lawrence Shankland but there was disappointment for some hopefuls, including former Motherwell playmaker Miller, who has been capped four times.
Clarke said: “There’s five people that were in my squad in March that are not in this squad, so five very difficult conversations. And I think because Lennon is so young, probably the most difficult.
“He’d been in a few squads and maybe felt as though he was going to be a regular in the squads. But I just felt that with the balance of the midfield that I’ve got, it was better to take an extra forward than an extra midfield player. That was my thinking on that one.
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“I think they (conversations) get more difficult because I’ve been there myself. I understand how disappointing it is to be told that you’ve just missed out on final selection. All those players have been very close. There’s a number of players across the campaign who have had fantastic seasons, who will also be disappointed that they’re not in the squad.
“And I fully respect their disappointment, but they also have to understand that I’m the head coach. I can only pick 26. I work the way I work. That is not going to change. It’s never going to change in the future. Disappointed for them because I know how they’ll be feeling.”
Clarke also expressed sympathy for striker Tommy Conway who had been ruled out after picking up an injury in Middlesbrough’s 2-1 Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final defeat by Southampton last week.
Clarke said: “Yeah, I spoke to Tommy, obviously devastated with injury.
“I thought he did well for us in March. He had a great season with his club, and it’s very disappointing for Tommy and he misses out, but he’s also not the first player across the three campaigns that we’ve qualified for who have missed out to really late injuries.
“It’s unfortunate, and we talked about it at length. It’s part and parcel of football.
“The most important thing for Tommy now is to get his head round it and understand that he has to be ready for Euro 2028.”
