Steve Clarke: I’ve no doubt there are goals in my Scotland squad

Steve Clarke insists Scotland’s have plenty firepower to damage Cyprus in his first match in charge despite the absence of Leigh Griffiths and Steven Naismith.

Scotland and Hibernian striker Marc McNulty could have a big role to play at Hampden tonight

The new national coach hopes to lure the Tartan Army back to Hampden Park with a convincing start to his reign this evening before heading to Belgium on Tuesday.

With Griffiths unavailable due to personal issues and Naismith recovering from a knee injury, Clarke must identify a forward to lead Scotland’s attack for the European Championship qualifying double header.

He named seven strikers and wingers in his 27-man squad, but only Celtic’s James Forrest has scored more than once at international level.

Clarke insisted there are goals in his group, nonetheless. “I’m confident I have players who can create chances and score goals. The proof of that will come tonight,” he said.

“Eamonn Brophy is a goalscorer, Marc McNulty is a goalscorer. Oliver Burke showed when he first came up to Scotland that he had potential to be a goalscorer. He has a different threat to the other two.

“Ryan Fraser is a goalmaker and goalscorer with Bournemouth. James Forrest has plenty goals for Celtic and, recently, at international level. John McGinn gets goals from midfield, so there are plenty of people in the squad who can score.”

Clarke intends to harness every positive vibe within the Scotland camp after many of his players ended the club season successfully.

Captain Andy Robertson won the Champions League with Liverpool, Celtic claimed a Treble Treble, plus McGinn and Kenny McLean gained promotion to England’s Premier League with Aston Villa and Norwich respectively.

The hopes is that the feel-good factor will rub off on the national squad as Clarke prepares to manage his country in the proudest moment of his career so far.

“We want to take the positivity from Andy, the Celtic boys winning three trophies, John McGinn and Kenny McLean winning promotion. There was a little bit of positivity around my appointment, so I’m told,” he said.

“We have to try and harness that and take it forward as a group. I’m not naive. I know the next stage is to get the result, hopefully with a great performance. If we just get the points, then the positivity will continue.

“I’m pretty sure it won’t be a sellout tonight. Our job is to get the win we need so that, when we come back in September, the supporters are with us a bit more. We want to get a bit more of a crowd for the matches against the two so-called big ones in the group.

“If we can get a good points total out of the next two games, the supporters will come back. If you are winning, eventually they come back. The Tartan Army is maybe a little bit reduced in numbers at the moment. You know that if they team is positive, winning and has a chance of qualifying, the supporters will be there.

“I said a few weeks ago that it is the pinnacle of my career so far. Hopefully it goes on to be a very successful part of my career.”

Clarke worked intensely getting to know the Scotland players and imparting his ideas to them this week. “I’ve crammed in as much as I can without overloading the players,” he explained.

“Hopefully you see the result of that in terms of shape and how we stay together as a team. I think the confidence is there. Everyone who turns up at this stage of the season, you know wants to be part of the set-up going forward.”