Steve Clarke has urged his never-say-die Scots to raise their game and go for the throat in Monday’s Nations League showdown with Poland.
Substitute John McGinn’s 86th-minute goal saw Clarke’s men come back from the dead in Group A1 with a 1-0 win over 10-man Croatia at Hampden.
With third-placed Poland going down 5-1 in Lisbon to section winners Portugal, Scotland now head for Warsaw knowing that if they win — and Croatia lose to the Portuguese — there is every chance they could come second and earn a crucial Pot One seeding place for the World Cup draw in December as well as a quarter-final spot in the Nations League.
Clarke was delighted to see Scotland earn a first win since beating Gibraltar in June — and a first win at home in 15 months — after Croatia’s Petar Sucic was sent off for a second bookable offence at the end of the first half.
However, he warned they will have to do better on the ball ahead of the win-or-bust game with the Poles. Lose or draw and Scotland will be relegated.
‘First of all, it’s nice to have a win on the board in a competitive match,’ said Clarke. ‘I’m really pleased for the players. The effort they’ve put in up until now deserved more points.
‘We have to win (in Poland). If we do that, we’ll count up the goals and whatever afterwards, but let’s take it a step at a time.
‘It’s been a hell of a long time since we got a win. Now we’ve got to get another one.
‘We can play better, we can be better with the ball. I think we can be more clinical when we get to the final third.
‘Obviously, the sending-off changed the direction of the game but we deserved a little break. We were always conscious we’d probably have to go to Poland to get a result. It’s in our own hands.’
Asked if he believes his side have the confidence to go to Poland and win after losing 3-2 to them earlier in the campaign, Clarke replied: ‘Yeah, I think so. The game here at Hampden was pretty even.
‘We gave away two penalties which is not ideal. Poland are a team that will score goals. But they also concede goals, so, hopefully, we can score a few.’
Ben Doak was a real livewire, especially in the second half, and his run and cross led to McGinn’s winner.
‘He was good but I thought he might be,’ said Clarke. ‘He’s shown a really positive attitude, he brings us something a little bit different.
‘He gets the assist for the goal with the run, could maybe have had a couple more, could maybe have scored one himself.
‘That’s a contribution from a young player that we need to protect, but realise that he’s good for now and hopefully for a long time in the future.’
Clarke revealed that McGinn was kept on the bench because of the impression Doak has made in recent times.
‘I just felt it wasn’t the time to take him out the firing line. I also knew I was strengthening the bench a little bit. You’ve got John to come in and he does what he does.’
Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic reckoned the sending-off changed the game and was the wrong call from Israeli referee Orel Grinfeeld. Clarke understood why he was angry and spoke with him and Croatia captain Luka Modric at full-time.
‘When you put two yellow cards together to get a red, I’m not sure it was strong enough to be a red,’ he said. ‘If it had happened against us, I would have been just as disappointed.’
