Steve Clarke gives instant reaction to barnstorming Scotland win in Poland as four stars earn acclaim
Scotland secured a huge win in Poland - here’s how the manager reacted.
Steve Clarke had praise for a quartet of his stars after a late win for Scotland in Warsaw against Poland, on Nations League business.
The Tartan Army were left celebrating a stoppage time winner as Andy Robertson headed home to seal a 2-1 success. After an opener by John McGinn was cancelled out, it looked as if Scotland were heading for relegation from Nations League A after being in Group 1 with Portugal and Croatia alongside Poland.
A late winner not only gives them an outside chance of being a Pot Two side for World Cup 2026 qualifying, but means they have a play-off to determine whether or not to remain a League A side rather than straight relegation like Poland have suffered. Speaking instantly after the match in his post-match press conference, Scotland head coach Clarke said it was a magic night for match-winner Robertson and Ben Doak.
It’s Rangers defender Souttar alongside Norwich City’s Grant Hanley who also earn acclaim, with the former floating in a brilliant cross for the winner. He said: “I'm really pleased for the supporters, a good way to end this part of the Nations League campaign.
“Obviously we've got a little bit longer now that we've managed to secure a playoff, so look forward to the games in March. It was a very open game, a game of a lot of chances. So we always felt that maybe one more chance would come, maybe not from the source it actually came from, but fantastic cross from John Souttar who was outstanding defensively, him and Grant Hanley.
“Fantastic cross, great header for the captain and nice way to finish the game. The more you play at this level the better you get. We started with three defeats, three narrow defeats with good performances. The players didn't lose belief, I didn't lose belief in the players and they end up taking seven points for the last three games which gets us into that playoff.
“Another assist for Ben which is good. I think he tired quite quickly in the second half. I should maybe have taken him a little bit earlier but he's a threat, he's very direct, he gets at defenders and having been a full-back myself I know you've got a winger like that who gets at you, he makes it difficult for the defenders and he brings us something a little bit different.
“I think when you look towards the end of the game we've made five changes. Players are coming onto the pitch, I think the depth of squad is good, we're still missing another three or four players who can probably add to that depth of squad. So hopefully going into next year they're all fit and they make my job hell of a difficult.”