Steve Clarke rejects Scotland 'rot' notion as boss names the unsung hero pining to avoid Euro 2024 heartbreak

By his own admission he’s hardly the world’s most enthusiastic party animal.

But Steve Clarke is planning to let the nation’s hair down at Hampden tomorrow night when Scotland’s Euro heroes take a bow in front of the Tartan Army after a job well done. One last Group A outing at home to Norway and this storming qualification campaign will be completed. And then the celebrations can begin in earnest as Scotland’s fans book up their flights for Germany in the summer.

But Clarke is determined to make sure it ends as it started, with a fourth straight home win and another reminder that his side won’t be travelling to the next tournament just to make up the numbers. Which is one reason why even Clarke, most uncharacteristically, struggled to keep his emotions in check in injury time in Tbilisi on Thursday night when Lawrence Shankland headed home a late leveller against Georgia to bring a three-game losing streak to an end. Just in the nick of time. “You noticed?” Clarke said with the slightest hint of a smile when asked about this rare moment of over exuberance before adding, “Well, it was important!”

It most certainly was. Clarke made the 3000-mile trip to Georgia for his 50th game in charge desperate to bring a halt to a run of results that have thrown a spanner in his works at just the most inconvenient moment.

That Scotland’s place at Euro 2024 was secured in the midst of three successive defeats to England, Spain and France did not sit at all well with a manager who has developed a habit for winning way more games than he loses.

“It’s not so much about stopping the rot,” he said with a hint of irritation after being asked a question about doing exactly that. It would be wrong to say it was a ‘rot’ to lose to France