Scotland 1-0 Croatia - Steve Clarke press conference - video Dailymotion

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John McGinn came to Scotland's rescue against ten-man Croatia in the UEFA Nations League at Hampden Park. Head coach Steve Clarke's post-match thoughts...

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00:00Steve, can you sum up the significance of that win? Not only does it end the run, the

00:16streak without a victory, it's really significant because we can still get second place, third

00:19place in the Nations League. First of all, it's nice to have a win on the board in a

00:24competitive match, so I'm really pleased with the players, they put in an up-to-the-line

00:29deserved more points and it's nice to get that win. You started with Ben Doak again,

00:36how impressed were you with him this evening on that big stage? Yeah, he was good, he was

00:42good but I thought he might be, he's come into the team, he's shown a really positive

00:49attitude, he brings us something a little bit different to what we've had before. I'm

00:53really pleased with Ben and he gets the assist for the goal in the run, could maybe have

00:59a couple more, could maybe have scored one himself, so that's a contribution from a young

01:04player that we need to protect and look after, but I realise that he's good for now and

01:08hopefully for a long time in the future. How do you approach Poland? Obviously you

01:12need to go for a win but with the three-goal swing in mind, does that come into the equation

01:16at all? Yeah, we have to win. First job is to go there and if we do that then we'll

01:22counter all the goals and whatever else comes. But let's take it a step at a time, it's

01:28been a hell of a long time since we've got a win, now we've got to get another one on

01:32Monday night, so it'll be nice to get back to back. What do you do now in terms of learning

01:38from this evening that you can take into Poland? First thoughts as I come off the pitch is

01:46that we can play better, I think we can be better with the ball, I think we can be more

01:50clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. Obviously the sending off changes

01:55the direction of the game but we'll do a little break. Steve, in that match was there a lot

02:02that epitomised this team running relentlessly, tackling for everything, not giving up? What

02:09does that say about the character of the squad that you have in front of you? That's good.

02:14I've always said this is a group of players that want to be successful and want to do

02:18well for their country. You see that again tonight, maybe not as good as we can win the

02:25ball but another clean sheet, that's 2-0. If you don't concede goals you obviously have

02:30a chance to win the game. We've got people coming off the bench that can score goals

02:35as well, so it was nice to get John on the pitch. I thought his finish was really good

02:39because it wasn't an easy finish. Does it show the depth you have as well? Not when

02:42they're strong starting 11, you can bounce someone doing snowy at 19 for his country

02:45on the pitch. I spoke about that before, it was nice to have a look at the bench behind

02:51and I know that we had people who could come on and affect the game, Ryan Gould again came

02:55on and was tidy, won a terrific cross for Bernard at the back post. It's nice when we

03:02get everybody fit and fit and durable. Despite a few bad results in this, it's certainly

03:07a lively kicking at the end of this final match if it could really end the year on a

03:12huge high for the country. It's exciting though isn't it? From the way we started the group

03:17we were always conscious that we'd probably have to go to Poland to get results. That's

03:23where we are and it's in our own hands, we have to go there and play as well as we can

03:29without the ball but play a little bit better with the ball. That's a hard-cast question.

03:33Steve, as you were saying then, it's been a hell of a long time since we had a win.

03:38It just seemed like there was almost a pressure release, a full-time getting that victory.

03:42How much of a boost can it give you and the players going to Poland but also the fans

03:46here? For the players it's great. They've worked ever so hard in a lot of games this

03:52year and not had the reward. For me, as I sit here now, I don't think the pressure's

03:57released. I still feel a bit uptight. Just with the nature of the game when it's so tight

04:02going into the end, you're always waiting on that low blow that's affected us a few times

04:08recently. We appreciate the fans, we know they've turned up in their numbers, another

04:14sell-out tonight. It's nice to see them home and smile on their face. They can wake up

04:19tomorrow and talk about a Scotland victory. It's been a long time since we did that, so

04:22I hope they enjoy it.

04:24Steve, a few quick questions. The post-match you spoke, you can see speaking from the moderation

04:27in the coach, our manager. Did you have sympathy with them for the red-green designs or did

04:32you see them as two yellow cards?

04:36I think when you put two yellow cards together to get a red, I'm not sure it was strong

04:41enough to be a red, if I'm being honest. If it had happened against us, I would have

04:45been just as disappointed as I do now.

04:48Steve, it's been a punishing campaign this Nations League because of the results, but

04:54in a funny way, do you feel that your side has made more progress over it than at any

04:59point? Because this win was coming, this result has been coming, and we've seen it game by

05:03game, the progression against top-level sides.

05:08Yeah, I would agree with that. We've been building performances. If I'm being honest,

05:15I think tonight was probably one of our poorest performances out of the five games we've played

05:21so far. We got the little breaks that fell in our favour tonight and we managed to turn

05:26that into a win. But that's not to forget all the good work that we've done up until

05:30now. And we also had a lot of chances in the game where we got to areas of the pitch where

05:33we should have done a little bit better, maybe to get a better scoreline against the 10 men

05:37when it was 11 v 11. We struggled at times to get the ball passed around. The press was

05:44very, very well. They're a top side. But what we have done is we've beaten a top European

05:51side here at Hamden. We've done that before against the likes of Spain, Denmark. So we

05:55know that we can be competitive at home. So we have to take a lot of the good from that

06:00and now we have to go away from home in a difficult game for us and try and get the

06:05win that at least keeps us in the play-offs or whatever.

06:08Do you think it lies in the win that you both of us will get the win in the league?

06:13Yes, I think so. The game here at Hamden was pretty even, a pretty close game. Obviously

06:19we gave away two penalties, which is not ideal. We gave away three goals to Poland, who are

06:26a team that will score goals. But they also concede goals so hopefully we can go down

06:30the score sheet.

06:31That was a big call with John, obviously, given the importance of the team down the

06:35line. What do you think behind that, because it pays off differently?

06:41What Ben's done over the last few games, I just felt it wasn't the time to take him

06:46out of the firing line. I looked at Ryan and Ben's contribution the last time we played.

06:54We expected Croatia to play with their back three and the wing-backs. Both Ben and Ryan

07:01did well for us out in Croatia, so that was the thing behind that. But I also knew that

07:06I was strengthening the bench a little bit. You've got John to come in and he does what

07:10he does. He can buff the bench and score some honour.

07:14What did you make of Pauli's performance?

07:18It was really difficult for him in the first half because Croatia had a lot of good control

07:22in the game, good control with the ball. He spent a lot of time running between the two

07:26centre-backs and the goalkeeper. But he battled away manfully. We didn't give him enough

07:33service. But listen, he's only a young lad. He's doing well at his club. One for the future

07:42and also one for now. I thought he did okay.

07:47It was a nice moment at the end between Richard Modric and Steve. Can I ask what you're saying

07:51to him?

07:53I'll answer that. I just wished him well. Good luck for the last game. We had a little

08:02chat about the game-changing incident.

Scotland 1-0 Croatia - Steve Clarke press conference

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