Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The National (Scotland)

Sport

Matthew Lindsay

Steve Clarke to keep faith with same loyal servants with Scotland squad for World Cup

Steve Clarke World Cup Scotland Che Adams Lyndon Dykes Celtic Aaron Hickey Ben GannonDoak Grant Hanley Ross Stewart

The style of play which Steve Clarke has honed and perfected during his record-breaking seven year tenure as Scotland manager has proved highly effective – qualification for three tournament finals is testimony to that.

Tartan Army footsoldiers know by now, however, they are not going to see the national team’s players throw caution to the wind and take a high-risk, expansive approach to their games, even meaningless friendlies, with Clarke at the helm.

The 62-year-old, who lacks both the world-class talents and strength in depth which his international counterparts have at their disposal, has achieved unprecedented success by fostering a strong team spirt, maintaining an intense defensive structure and focusing on creating midfield overloads.

The stoical Ayrshireman is a very much a pragmatist, not an idealist and certainly not a romantic.

There should, then, be no gasps of astonishment when his 26-man squad for the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States is announced tomorrow either. He will very much stick with the tried and tested.

There have been calls from fans and pundits for individuals who did not feature for Scotland during their qualifying campaign – not least Oliver Burke at Union Berlin, Oliver McBurnie at Hull City and Ross Stewart at Southampton - to be brought in since that epic, historic, unforgettable win over Denmark back in November.

Clarke, though, is unlikely to mix things up and risk damaging the harmony within his camp with just three weeks or so to go until the opening Group C match against Haiti at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. He will once again place his faith in those who have served him so well in the past.

McBurnie, who won the last of his 15 caps five years ago, has been in sparkling form up front for Hull in the Championship in the 2025/26 campaign and has been on target on no fewer than 18 occasions in all competitions. He is desperate to be involved at the World Cup.

Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay scores his overhead kick against Denmark in November (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

So much so, in fact, that he phoned up Clarke to ask him what he had to do to force his way back into the set-up. He was left in no doubt that he would not be brought back in from the cold.

“He said to me that he builds his squads on loyalty and that Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes have done really well for him,” said the former £16.5m forward. “He doesn’t see me as a third or fourth-choice striker. He’s comparing me against Che and Lyndon and he sees them ahead of me.”

Many of his selections will be, as the Americans say, no brainers. Angus Gunn, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Scott McKenna, Grant Hanley, Jack Hendry, John Souttar, Aaron Hickey, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Lewis Ferguson, Ryan Christie, Kenny McLean, Ben Gannon-Doak, Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Georgie Hirst and Lawrence Shankland are all guaranteed to go if fit and available for selection.

A number of others, Craig Gordon, Liam Kelly, Anthony Ralston and Findlay Curtis, should all join them on the plane which will cross the Atlantic following the send-off match at Hampden against Curacao on Saturday week.

There are injury doubts. Right wing-back Hickey has only played an hour of competitive football for Brentford since recovering from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the March friendlies. Hibernian centre-half Hanley limped against Motherwell on Saturday and it is unclear what the extent of the damage is. Winger Gannon-Doak has been on the pitch for less than half an hour this year.

Yet, those three men have all been so important for Clarke in the past that he will be sorely tempted to name them if there is even the slightest prospect of them being able to feature against Haiti, Morocco or Brazil. They will all be gambles worth taking.

There are really only a few spots which are up for grabs. Will he take Ross McCrorie of Bristol, Dominic Hyam of Wrexham, Josh Doig of Sassuolo, Max Johnston of Derby County, Nathan Patterson of Everton? Will he bring in Andy Irving of Sparta Prague, Lennon Miller of Udinese, Connor Barron of Rangers or James Forrest of Celtic?

Could Kieron Bowie, who banged in a last-minute equaliser for Hellas Verona against Inter Milan in the San Siro on Sunday, be recalled? The 23-year-old, who moved to Italy in a £7m transfer back in January, has netted four times in his last seven Serie A outings.

All of those aforementioned contenders have been in and around the Scotland squad to varying degrees during their Nations League and World Cup qualifying campaigns. Clarke is well aware of their qualities and will have a good idea of the areas which he requires cover in.

But there will be no curveballs, no bombshells, no leftfield picks, when the 26 men who have made the cut are revealed tomorrow.

His critics – and there are those who, despite the former Newcastle United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa assistant leading his homeland to the Euro 2020, Euro 2024 and World Cup ’26 finals, continue to have issues with his management – feel that he should chose his starting line-up more on current form than he sometimes does.

A giant FIFA World Cup trophy (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)

Stewart, the 6ft 2in former Albion Rovers, St Mirren and Ross County front man, claimed his 11th goal of the season as Southampton beat Middlesbrough at the weekend to secure their place in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. It will, though, be a surprise if the two-times capped 29-year-old gets the nod.

But it is difficult to quibble with how the ex-Kilmarnock manager goes about his business. His methods have worked pretty well for him to date. They can, with a bit of good fortune, help him to lead Scotland to a place in the knockout rounds of a major tournament for the first time ever next month.

Fans can be sure that those who are handed the privilege of following in the stud marks of Eric Caldow, Dave Mackay, Billy Bremner, Denis Law, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Martin Buchan, Danny McGrain, Joe Jordan, Graeme Souness, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish, Paul McStay, Jim Leighton, Kevin Gallacher, Colin Hendry and John Collins will be desperate to repay him for the honour.

SCOTLAND WORLD CUP SQUAD

DEFINITELY

Goalkeepers

Angus Gunn (Nottingham Forest)

Defenders

Andy Robertson (Liverpool)

Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Scott McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb)

Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq)

John Souttar (Rangers)

Aaron Hickey (Brentford)

Grant Hanley (Hibernian)