Scotland reaction: 'Hurt and anger' response as Steve Clarke hails 'big prospect' and confirms final goodbye

Steve Clarke admitted that his Scotland players took out their "hurt and anger" on lowly Liechtenstein in the 4-0 victory in Vaduz on Monday night.

Clarke was pleased to see a positive response to Friday’s 3-1 defeat by Iceland at Hampden that had raised serious concerns among the Tartan Army ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign beginning in September.

Anything other than a comfortable win over the team ranked 205th in the Fifa rankings would have led to further questions, but a hat-trick from Che Adams and a first international goal for George Hirst eased the pressure on the Scotland head coach.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke was pleased with his players' positive response to the Iceland defeat in the 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. | PA

“I know my players. I trust my players,” Clarke told BBC Scotland. “I’ve had a couple of disappointments, and I know they’ve always shown the resilience to come back and do what they can do, so it will have no bearing on what’s going to happen later in the year, but it’s nice to finish this camp with a nice win.

“It’s still a disappointing camp because we didn’t play as we can play in the home game at Hampden, so I’m certainly going to carry that (disappointment) into August.

“There was a little bit of hurt and anger in the dressing room, I think you saw that in the first 25 minutes when the players were really on it, so hopefully we can harness that and take that into the autumn games.”

Clarke confirmed that his long-serving assistant John Carver is stepping down to focus on his role as head coach of Lechia Gdansk.

“I think the wave goodbye to the crowd was probably a giveaway,” he added. “When I approached him five years ago to come in and help us, I didn’t think he’d be here for five years because he’s such a talented coach.

“So the fact that it’s taken five years for somebody to take him away from us, to give him a full-time contract and a three-year deal is good for Scotland. We’ll miss him, we’ll have to look to replace him, and that’ll be one of my jobs over the summer.

“I’ve got plenty of people in mind, I’ll have a few conversations, but we’re pleased that he was here for five years and we wish him every success in Gdansk.”

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has confirmed his assistant John Carver (left) will depart the coaching set-up | SNS Group

Clarke’s decision to start with a 4-4-2 formation in the friendly paid off as Adams fourth-minute opener finally ended a 367-day wait for a Scotland striker to find the net, since Lawrence Shankland scored against Finland this time last year.

“That’s one thing we spoke about in the dressing room, getting a fast start,” Clarke said. “Our players had a little bit of anger in the performance at the start of the game. They knew that they’d let themselves down in the previous match.

“So, to start well and get the early goal makes it more comfortable and it’s nice to build on that with another three goals. Teams maybe win here but not too many come and score four goals.

“It’s been a while since the strikers scored. I spoke to both of them before the game. I said, if ever there was a game where they could both play up top, this was it. If ever there was a game where they could both get on the scoresheet, this was it.”

Lennon Miller was handed his first Scotland start and had a major hand in both of Adams’ first-half goals with the Motherwell midfielder showcasing the range and quick tempo of his passing throughout.

“Really good,” Clarke said of the 18-year-old’s performance. “Him and Billy (Gilmour) were good in the midfield. It wasn’t easy to pass the ball, the pitch was a bit sticky, but both of them were at it.

“We know what Lennon can do. He’s a big prospect for us. It’s nice to get these players on the pitch at an early age where you can start to give them international experience.”

Ross Doohan made his Scotland debut against Liechenstein. | PA

Clarke handed out five debuts with Ross Doohan rewarded for cutting a family holiday short to answer a goalkeeping emergency with a start. As eventful as the last few days have been for the outgoing Aberdeen goalkeeper, he had no saves to make in the game and very little action of any sort in the second half.

Clarke said: “With the experience he has got, 27 years of age, been around different clubs, sometimes on loan, sometimes permanent, he came in, was mature.

“He didn’t have a lot to do but what he did he did very cleanly, so I’m pleased for Ross.”

Josh Doig, Andy Irving, Connor Barron and Kieron Bowie all made their first Scotland appearances off the bench.

“It was an opportunity to give these younger players, hopefully the next generation of Scotland caps, the one that sets them on the road,” Clarke said. “Now it’s up to them to make it difficult for me to leave them out of the squad.

“But if you look at the team that’s on the pitch at the end of the game, it’s maybe a little glimpse into the future.”