Steve Clarke makes case for the defence as Lyndon Dykes shines again

The national side saw off their opponents at Hampden to remain top of Group B2 in the Nations League at the halfway stage after a well-timed chipped pass from Stephen O’Donnell set the QPR striker free of the visitors’ back line to nudge the ball home.

Two goals from four appearances makes for good reading for Dykes’ initial taste of international football and while Clarke was delighted with the former Livingston forward’s contribution, the 57-year-old was adamant that the whole team deserved credit for the victory.

 “Lyndon was an international striker as soon as we picked him and put him on the pitch,” Clarke said. “He’s done well. I don’t think anyone who has watched him play could say anything otherwise. He was part of a very good team performance and will get the headlines because he scored the goal.

“That’s what strikers do, but I thought my back three were terrific. It was good for Lyndon to get the goal. He was in the right place at the right time, but we also put in a terrific defensive performance.

“If you want to win football matches and you don’t concede then you always have the chance to score a goal, which we did.  It was disciplined defensively against a system we had not come up against before. That’s two clean sheets in a row and it’s something we have been working hard on.

“Defensively we were solid and I felt we controlled it from start to finish. I always felt comfortable, even when Slovakia were probing, and we scored a good goal to win the game. The all-round performance pleased me most. You get criticised a lot and people talk about stats.

“One shot on target in two games and we have reached the play-off final and picked up another win. It’s not so much about statistics. It’s about what you do. We created a lot of chances and Oli McBurnie hit the bar. We also had good contacts on corners.

“You have to understand the enormity of the game on Thursday night and the pressure. There was a release against Slovakia and the players played with more freedom. They took a few more chances and some risk at the back, but when you have three central defenders playing as well as ours did, you always have a chance.

“Andy [Considine] was terrific when you think he only joined us the other day. We had two days of recovery, so we didn’t do a lot on the training pitch, but he’s experienced. He is there on merit.”

The evening was certainly a positive one for Clarke and the Tartan Army but it was not a perfect one. Captain Andy Robertson collected a silly booking for kicking the ball away from his opponent with the clock winding down and will now miss Wednesday’s game against the Czechs through suspension. As a result, Clarke says he plans on calling up a new face to the squad.

He said: “Two yellows in a six-game competition ruling you out a game is a bit harsh. Liam Cooper has dropped out with injury, so I will probably call up another centre-back to give us that cover.”

Attention will soon turn to next month’s Euro 2020 play-off final away to Serbia but Clarke insisted that he and his coaching team are taking things one game at a time.

And after arresting the slump in form that initially greeted the Scotland boss to life in the international arena, the former Kilmarnock manager reckons the signs of progress are clear for all to see.

“We have been talking about building momentum since last October when we lost heavily in Russia and we decided that would be the low point, and we would build from there,” he said.

“That’s seven games unbeaten, so we are slowly getting things right and building momentum towards the game next month. But first we have a tough one against Czech Republic. This sets us up nicely for the game. They had a good win against Israel, but come Wednesday night, I hope we are still top.

“We aren’t thinking about next month [against Serbia]. The focus is to get as many points as possible in this section. If we do that, we will go into Serbia in the right frame of mind.”