Hearts players await their fate with Scotland striker and goalkeeper issues on Steve Clarke's mind

Craig Gordon, Zander Clark and Lawrence Shankland are all hoping to impress

Scotland’s provisional 28-man squad for the European Championship includes four goalkeepers and three strikers. National coach Steve Clarke is expected to cut the four keepers to three when he trims his squad to 26 early next month. None of the centre-forwards will be omitted, however. All three are vital to the cause.

Hearts have Craig Gordon and Zander Clark challenging Liam Kelly and Angus Gunn, who is the established first-choice in the No.1 position. The other Tynecastle Park employee in the squad is Lawrence Shankland. He is up against Lyndon Dykes and Ché Adams for the traditional No.9 role after scoring 32 goals in all competitions this season.

Clarke is not against taking four goalkeepers to Germany. “It’s possible. We will see how the mix goes. It’s not always about on the pitch, the guys off the pitch are also very important. There might be some players who go with us to the pre-camp, to the group stages, hopefully into the knockout stages, and not get any minutes on the pitch. These have to be good people. They have to understand their place within the squad. They have to understand what they bring to the squad.

“You can’t have people who, after four weeks, suddenly become Negative Normans and start draining the energy out of the group. You need these people to stay constant and be good people within the group. There are lots of things to think about.

“I think 10 or 11 still have a chance of playing [club games] before the Euros. There is no standby group. Well, there is a standby group because Scot Gemmill will name an Under-21 squad for two friendly matches. There is your standby group there. And what I would say to anybody who Scot picks for the Under-21s is that it’s probably worth going to that camp because you never know what’s going to happen over the next 10 days.”

Pre-tournament friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland will go a long way towards shaping Clarke’s thoughts before group matches against Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. He is giving nothing away regarding who will lead the attack. “It will be Dykesy, Shanks or Ché. Maybe Ben [Doak]. That’s why I picked four.” Realistically, Doak is more likely to feature in a slightly deeper role, leaving three centre-forwards to select from.

It is refreshing for a Scotland team to be preparing for major competition with strikers scoring goals. Shankland’s 32 for club and country set him apart from Adams [18 goals so far] and Dykes [seven goals]. “Ché has finished the season well. Certainly he is available for their play-off final this week,” said Clarke. “Shanks scores goals, Dykesy finished the season in a much better frame of mind and scored a couple of goals at QPR. They stayed up. They are all in good shape, all my strikers.”

Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack is a slightly surprising inclusion given he has been out injured since 7 March. “Ryan is not in because he’s due a chance, he is in because of what he has done for me before as a player,” stressed Clarke. “I understand the qualities Ryan brings to the squad and to the team when I put him on the pitch.

“What he has to do is come into the camp, train well, hopefully I can give him some minutes on the pitch and he has to show everyone he is fit. I know he has been fit at his club for a couple of weeks now. They have chosen not to play him, that is their choice, but Ryan is fit and raring to go.” Asked when he will cut his 28-man pool to 26, Clarke replied: “Probably just prior to the Finland game. I might even wait until after it because somebody might pick up an injury in the game.”