Steve Clarke insists angry Scotland took it out on Liechtenstein as he issues challenge to international new boys
The Scotland boss also hailed Lennon Miller and Ross Doohan as he says goodbye to assistant manager John Carver
Steve Clarke praised hat-trick hero Che Adams and admitted his Scotland side took their anger out on Liechtenstein.
The national team had taken some stick for the 3-1 friendly defeat to Iceland on Friday evening.
They travelled to Vaduz where they warmed-up for the World Cup qualifiers with a convincing 4-0 win over the Euro minnows, thanks to an Adams’ treble and a first for George Hirst.
Clarke beamed: “Yes, 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 score sheet, this was it, which is great.
“Obviously, in the second half, when I'm making the substitutions, I'm leaving Che on because he's got two.
“I think that’s the first hat-trick for a Scottish striker or Scottish player since (John McGinn in) 2019 so it's nice for Che and it's nice for George to get off the mark internationally.”
Clarke sensed a determination to get a much-needed friendly win. The national coach stated: “Yes, I think so. That is one thing we spoke about in the dressing room was getting a fast start. 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, it's that as well as getting the early goal which makes it more comfortable and it's nice to build on that with another three goals.
"Teams may win here but not too many come and score four goals. So, that's nice.”
Lennon Miller and Ross Doohan also made their first starts, Clarke was pleased with both.
Clarke, speaking about Miller, admitted: “Really good. I thought we 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. It's nice.”
Doohan had cut short a family holiday in Turkey for this game. Clarke added: “We saw his performance. With his experience, with the many clubs where he has already played, he showed a high performance today.”
Scotland also gave debuts to Connor Barron, Josh Doig, Kieron Bowie and Andy Irving. He thinks it was a glimpse of the country’s long-term future.
The former Kilmarnock manager explained: “We brought them to the second team, they played their first international games and they showed good performances. It's nice to have such young and fresh players in the team.
“Now it's up to them to make it difficult for me to leave them out of the squad. But I think if you look at the team that's on the pitch at the end of the game it's maybe a glimpse into the future.”
“They made it difficult for me to leave them out of the squad. They performed well in training. So I decided to switch them in the second half.”
It was also confirmed assistant John Carver will be leaving his role to concentrate on his head coach role at Lechia Gdansk.
Clarke confirmed: “John's leaving. He's got a full-time contract, three years in Gdansk. So he's going to move on. The only surprise for me is that it's taken five years for somebody to take John off me.
“We came across each other way back in 1998 at Newcastle when I was a young coach and John was an even younger coach, we came across each other. He was looking after the younger players at Newcastle. We always said that we'd try and work together. It took us a long time to get there. But we did. He's been outstanding for us.
“For me as a head coach, John's been a fantastic assistant. Obviously, I wish him all the best in the future.
“Now I've got to start the job of looking to fill his shoes, and they are big shoes to fill.”