Steve Clarke urges Scotland to maintain 'continuity & feelgood factor'

Steve Clarke wants Scotland to continue the momentum of last year as his squad prepares for two friendlies after a break of more than four months.

Six consecutive victories propelled Scotland into a World Cup play-off, although the semi-final with Ukraine has been delayed.

Instead, Scotland will meet Poland at Hampden on Thursday before visiting either Wales or Austria.

"It's about trying to pick up where we left off last November," said Clarke.

"For me, the most important thing is getting the nucleus of the squad who did so well for us at the end of last year back together again.

"We want to find that feelgood factor and continuity we had.

"If we were going into a more competitive game, there would be a different feel to it. It's a little bit relaxed, but the mood around the camp feels like it did in November and hopefully the performance on the pitch will be just as positive as it was in November [wins away to Moldova and at home to Denmark].

"I know the term friendly is used but every single game when you represent your country, you want to win. This group of players have shown they want to do that and hopefully it continues in the next two games."

Clarke has three new faces in his squad, with Hearts defender Craig Halkett, Sunderland forward Ross Stewart and Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey called up.

Hickey is likely to miss the game with Poland due to illness, while captain Andy Robertson and striker Lyndon Dykes will definitely sit out the match at Hampden, because of Covid and injury respectively.

"First and foremost I tell them [the new players] they're in the squad because they've impressed me so they don't need to run around like crazy on the training pitch trying to impress me even more," explained Clarke. "They have to fit in and feel part of the group, that's a big thing.

"We've spent the last three years trying to build that feeling round the camp. We want the lads to come knowing they're going to have good facilities, good training, good preparation for the matches and also a feelgood factor about mingling with each other. We want to keep that going.

"Aaron made a really brave decision as a young man to move abroad and work in Italy, so he's grown up pretty quickly.

"He comes across as a really confident guy and I look forward to seeing him on the pitch. We've got two games, so it's not a case of rushing him in. He's got plenty of time on his side."

Clarke refused to confirm who will captain the team in the absence of Liverpool full-back Robertson, with Callum McGregor, John McGinn, Grant Hanley and Craig Gordon among those in the running.

"I haven't decided yet," said the head coach. "I've got so many candidates. I've got loads of captains. It's fantastic, I love it."