Scotland boss Steve Clarke embraces 'high expectations'

Scotland manager Steve Clarke has welcomed a rise in expectation levels around the national side.

The Scots go into Wednesday night’s game against the Faroe Islands on the back of draws with Austria and Israel in World Cup qualifying.

Some have claimed two points is a poor return so far, but Clarke said he wanted to avoid negativity creeping into his squad ahead of the European Championships this summer.

He said: “That’s [high expectations] a good thing. I have been in this job a relatively short period of time and we have managed to qualify for our first major tournament in 23 years and we don’t want to forget that.

“We don’t want to forget the good feeling and don’t want anyone to get too negative.

“We are certainly not negative in the camp, we are in a good place, the team are in a good place, everyone understands what we are trying to achieve and we will try and achieve that going forward.

“So the increase in expectation is because we have done well.”

Wednesday night’s game at Hampden will be Scotland’s last competitive game before the Euros, but Clarke insists minds are fully focused on picking up three points in the bid to reach Qatar 2022.

He said: “It’s important to win tomorrow in the context of it being a World Cup qualifier.

“We have got plenty of more games to play after these three, another seven in the autumn, and a lot can change in five months.

“We focus only on the game tomorrow, we don’t think about the Euros yet.”