Steve Clarke is adamant he won’t look for excuses if Scotland fail to beat Israel in their Euro play-off tie.
Victory at Hampden on Thursday will leave Clarke’s men 90 minutes away from next summer’s Euros.
But with preparation time limited by rescheduled league games for Rangers and Celtic tomorrow and English Premier League matches this afternoon, Clarke won’t take a proper training session until Tuesday.
The Scotland boss insists he won’t hide behind that problem.
Clarke said: “We won’t do much training on Monday.
“We’re grateful to the SPFL for moving games to Friday night. The few players who were involved in those four games will be well rested by Monday.
“They’ll be desperate for a good session.
“But half of the squad will play on Sunday because we couldn’t control what the English Premier League would do.”
Clarke also faces a sweat to see if the likes of Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor and Ryan Jack emerge unscathed from the remaining Premiership matches involving the Old Firm.
He said: “The fact that the Rangers and Celtic boys are playing on Sunday is because they’re involved in the Europa League and I’d rather they were in the group stage than not there.
“It’s just something we will have to deal with. Obviously the shortened preparation time is a negative but it’s a negative we have faced before.
“I have a better idea of just how to deal with that situation now.
“The players will be ready come Thursday night. There will be no excuses.”
Clarke’s contract with Scotland runs until the summer of 2022 before the World Cup in Qatar.
He has hinted that whatever happens in these Euro play-off ties, he’ll be around to see the job through to then.
He admitted: “The qualification draw for the World Cup is in November and I am looking forward to that.
“But there are a few big games to play before then.”
