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Clarke facing calls on key Scotland trio for crunch Republic of Ireland clash

Steve Clarke has admitted he faces a balancing act between managing game time for key players such as Kieran Tierney and guiding Scotland through a crucial match against the Republic of Ireland.

Should Scotland claim at least a point at Hampden Park on Saturday, it is likely that a draw against Ukraine in Poland on Tuesday would seal top spot in group B1 of the Nations League. Playing three games inside a week – Scotland beat Ukraine in Glasgow on Wednesday – raises selection issues for Clarke.

Tierney missed the latter stages of last season for club and country through injury. Jack Hendry, who started at centre-back in midweek, has played only seven minutes for his club in this campaign. Stuart Armstrong has generally been a substitute at Southampton.

“We’ve got decisions to make on a few,” Clarke said. “Kieran on minutes on the pitch, Jack on minutes on the pitch, Stuart on minutes on the pitch. Pretty much those three. So there are decisions to be made. This is only the second day of recovery so although it’s also the day before the game, we’re still recovering.

“In terms of physical preparation Ireland will have had the better week as they’ve had a clear week to prepare while ourselves and Ukraine are playing catchup. We don’t complain about it because we understand the reason we had to play the extra game against Ukraine is much more important and much more newsworthy than a football match.

“But Ireland will have had a better preparation. We’ve had a great win in midweek and we feel good about ourselves so maybe it balances itself out.”

Clarke did, however, brush aside any suggestion he will come under pressure from club managers regarding who to pick. “My job is to win matches for Scotland,” he said. Scotland’s

Read more on theguardian.com