Tinkering Steve Clarke's Scotland send off more subdued than Ally's Army as open top bus can wait until AFTER Euro 2024

There was no Ally’s Army style open-top bus routine at Hampden last night. Steve Clarke’s Crew got a slightly more subdued send-off for the Euros.

And we just need to hope the wheels are still on the Scotland wagon as the squad set off on the road to Germany. This draw with Finland was more frustration than fanfare. But Clarke’s men all came through unscathed and it won’t matter a jot in the grand scheme. Are Scotland ready? We’ll soon find out.

It’s worth remembering in that bonkers leaving do in 1978, when Ally McLeod’s men did a preposterous pre-Argentina lap of honour amid promises of coming back with a medal, the side didn’t actually dig out the boots. There wasn’t even a friendly to deal with and we all know how that turned out. Scotland had to get this out of the way and looked to be signing off with a win when Andy Robertson teed up an own goal and then a Lawrence Shankland second.

But Finland refused to play ball – and did their best to wreck Craig Gordon’s own big farewell. The keeper won’t be going to Germany but got the final 20 minutes when the Finns fought back.

Conceding a harsh penalty for the second wasn’t part of his final script – and it wasn’t what the 41-year-old hero deserved. Scotland didn’t either. Even Tommy Conway was denied a stunning winner at the death that would’ve changed the mood music for the Tartan Army.

Let’s just hope we’ve saved up our good fortune for the main event. The hard work has already been done for Germany. This was about tinkering around the fringes. Clarke knows pretty much 10 of his starting line-up for the big opener.

He knows who he can trust – and who he just cannot afford to lose at this stage. Most of those big beasts were out there last night. There was