Kilmarnock blueprint can work for Scotland says Alex Dyer

Scotland assistant Alex Dyer during training at the Oriam.

The Killie assistant manager has followed Steve Clarke to the national set-up and the pair took their first two training sessions yesterday along with Steven Reid and temporary goalkeeping coach Billy Thomson, who is deputising for Stevie Woods in the early part of the week.

Clarke and Dyer delivered instant results for Kilmarnock, taking them from the bottom of the Scottish top flight in October 2017 to a record points total in May the following year.

They led Killie to another record tally in the most recent season and a first European qualification in 18 yearsbefore Clarke took the Scotland job.

Dyer is sure they can produce improvement for Scotland ahead of their opening match against Cyprus in Saturday’s Euro 2020 qualifier as Scotland look to make up ground following their opening loss in Kazakhstan.

Dyer, who first met Clarke while he was West Ham reserve-team boss – and the former Chelsea defender was assistant to Gianfranco Zola – said: “The important thing is to bring some pride back to Scottish football, to do our best, get a happy feeling around the camp.

“That’s the main thing, that people come to work and enjoy what they do.

“Once you are out on the pitch, football is football wherever you go. We just want to make the players come in and work hard and enjoy what they do. That’s the most important thing. When a camp is happy, when  people enjoy what they do, I’m sure that will follow.”

Clarke has pencilled in double sessions all week, although he will continually assess the required workload for the players, whose season finishes have varied.

Dyer said: “They know he demands everyone to come in and work hard and I think the lads showed that. There is no messing around.

“The training is so important to give them the right information to make sure everyone fights and chases and covers every inch of that pitch.”