'We are still alive': Clarke hails Scotland's reaction to get draw against Switzerland in Cologne

Steve Clarke praised the reaction from his side to bounce back from a disappointing opening day and keep their Euro 2024 dreams alive with a draw against Switzerland.

Scott McTominay opened the scoring in Cologne before Xheridan Shaqiri equalised in the first half of the game on Wednesday night.

The result means Scotland can still reach the last-16 for the first time ever if they beat Hungary on Sunday.

And the manager believes a lesser team could have wilted after a 5-1 defeat but insists the performance was more like what he has come to expect from his side.

Speaking after the game he said: “That’s what we expected, this is the way we have been playing as a team for the last three or four years and it’s why we are here at a major tournament.

“The players knew what they had to do and I thought it was a good team performance against a good opponent.

“It was a good reaction to a disappointing night (against Germany) and we are still alive in the tournament.

“Sometimes as a manager or as a player it just doesn’t go your way, and it certainly didn’t go our way on Friday night so tonight was just about getting back to what we are good at.

“It was about making sure we got our preparation right and I think we did.

“The reality is that when we were drawn against the host nation in the opening game, you’re looking at the next two games in the group and thinking that’s maybe where our points are going to come from, and that’s the way it turned out.

“The team are going to feel a lot better going in to the next game off that kind of performance than they did after the first game.

“We did what we had to do, we are still in the competition and that is the most important thing.”

Scotland did suffer a setback when Kieran Tierney was stretchered off in the second-half and Clarke revealed that he will be out of the Hungary game.

He said: “Kieran is injured, so he won’t play in the next game for sure.”