Ex Hearts star showered with praise as Clarke warns Scotland to keep 'feet on the ground' after Denmark stalemate
The Scotland head coach has been reacting to his side's goalless World Cup qualifying draw in Copenhagen
Steve Clarke praised his gutsy Scotland stars for overcoming a lack of game time at club level to hold Group C top seeds Denmark to a goalless draw in their opening World Cup qualifier in Copenhagen.
The stubborn Scots kickstarted their latest campaign with a deserving point at the Parken Stadion and proved more than a match for the Danes - ranked 21st in the world - as they threatened to steal all three points by spurning some second half opportunities.
Despite drawing a blank, it was the disciplined nature of his side’s performance that impressed Clarke the most after securing what could turn out to be a crucial result in their quest for a first World Cup appearance since 1998.
Speaking in his post-match interview, Clarke said: “Yeah, a good start. A very disciplined performance, which we knew it had to be. We certainly created enough going forwards as well which was nice to see.
“We defended well. I thought (John) Souttar and (Grant) Hanley at the back were outstanding, but you could go through the whole team. From one to eleven, even the subs who came off the bench all did their bit.
“It was a good night for us, but it’s only one point. We have to keep our feet on the ground. We’ve got another difficult away game now in Hungary against Belarus and we have to get ready for that.
“I always had in my mind that I'd need to make changes across the two games. We’ve got a lot of players who haven’t started for their clubs and don’t have minutes in their legs. I know what I've got in that squad, I know the qualities and the desire we’ve got to be at the World Cup. We can just go game to game and pick up as many points as we can.”
‘An absolute pleasure’ - Steve Clarke thrilled to have Aaron Hickey fit and available
Clarke reserved special praise for ex-Hearts defender Aaron Hickey, who marked his long-awaited return to the national team following a two-year absence through injury by putting in a tiresome shift at right-back.
“Aaron’s had a really tough time with injury,” Clarke admitted. “To come back and play 65 minutes in a game of that level and intensity shows you the qualities that he’s got.
“It shows you how hard he’s worked on his rehab. For me as a head coach, being able to pick him again after such a long time is an absolute pleasure.”