Steve Clarke reveals the Scotland lengths Lawrence Shankland goes to as Hearts striker makes defiant Euro 2024 case

Steve Clarke wants Scotland to celebrate reaching Euro 2024 by beating Norway - and says he’s gutted Erling Haaland won’t be here for the party.

The Tartan Army won’t get to see the Manchester City superstar at Hampden tonight after he pulled out with an injury. But as Clarke’s players aim to finish the campaign with a victory, the national team gaffer insists he wishes Haaland was fit. He said: “In the context of this game, of course I wanted Haaland to play. It would have been nice for the Scotland fans to see him on the pitch at Hampden, so it’s unfortunate that he’s injured.

“Although, if the game was more competitive, my answer would probably have been different! Hopefully it’s going to be a good night but that will be driven by the performance of the team. We are focused on a good performance and a good result. If we can all celebrate together at the end of the game with a smile on our faces that would be a good night.”

A two-goal victory over the Norwegians might propel Scotland into Pot 2 for the Euro 2024 draw in Hamburg next month. But Clarke claims he doesn’t care who we’ll face in the tournament - as long as we’re there.

He said: “Nobody knows who will be in the pots at this stage. So we’ll just play our game and whether it’s Pot 2 or Pot 3, I’m just happy to be there.

“I don’t take any prestige from being in a higher pot. I’m happy that we’re at the tournament and whatever draw we get, we’ll take it.”

Ahead of the Norway game, Clarke refused to confirm whether Zander Clark would keep his place in goal ahead of Liam Kelly. But he admits Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland has done himself no harm in terms of a starting slot after his late leveller against Georgia in Tbilisi on Thursday night.

He said: “Lawrence