Steve Clarke insists his Scotland players have proved they have the inner steel to make it to North America next summer and help him overcome his own heartbreak over never reaching a World Cup finals.
Clarke was in the preliminary squad as a player for the 1990 showpiece in Italy, but failed to make the final cut and admits that hammer blow still hurts to this day.
However, ahead of today’s tea-time Group C qualifier against Belarus, the 62-year-old can see the prospect of a place at The Greatest Show on Earth moving ever closer and is delighted with the squad of players he is working towards that goal with.
Scotland pulled off a remarkable fightback to beat Greece 3-1 at Hampden in midweek and put themselves top of the qualifying section with Denmark on seven points.
And Clarke was clear when asked whether he sees the inner belief and resilience within his panel of players to make it all the way
‘Yes, it’s there,’ he stated. ‘You can see it in their performances. You can see the players are determined to do everything they can to make sure we get to the finals.
Clarke celebrates as Scotland secure victory over Greece to keep them joint-top of their World Cup qualifying group
The Scots boss takes training ahead of the upcoming qualifier against Belarus at Hampden
‘Talking about it and actually doing it on the pitch are two totally different things, but, so far, we have managed to do what we have wanted to do but we still have three more steps to make.’
Quizzed on why making it to the finals means so much to him personally, Clarke replied: ‘I wanted to go as a player! I didn’t manage to achieve it.
‘I got pretty close in 1990 when I got into the pre-World Cup squad. That hurt. Still hurts a little bit now that I haven’t been to a World Cup with my country.
‘I have a chance to do it now. It’s a fantastic group of players. They want to be the first ones since 1998 to take their country to a World Cup and hopefully it marries up together and we can achieve this.’
Clarke will make his own little bit of history today by racking up his 72nd game in charge of the national side and taking over from Craig Brown as the national coach with most matches under his belt. He admits it is a real matter of pride to him.
‘I think I would be a bit daft if I didn’t feel proud because, obviously, I am the first guy to reach that amount of games. That is nice for me,’ he said.
‘That is a little personal thing. At the moment, it shouldn’t be about me, it should be about the team and about trying to get to a World Cup. That is what we are going to focus on.
‘When I started, the brief was to qualify for tournaments and we have managed to do that twice. We want to do that again because we are all greedy.
‘Did I think I would last this long? Probably not.’
Ryan Christie hails his equaliser that brought the Scots level against Greece
Clarke admits it has taken time to settle into the particular discipline of being an international manager and, coming towards the end of his current contract, has reiterated his view that he would like another crack at the club game before he calls it a day.
‘I’ve learnt how to deal with the down time,’ he said. ‘It took me, after the first game, probably 18 months to work out what to do between camps, how much time to spend not looking at the opposition — because, sometimes, you can drive yourself daft watching loads of videos before you actually come to camp.
‘My preparation on that side is better. I deal with that better. I’ve learned how to deal with the stress and the tension — the nonsense that can sometimes come in camp. I’ve learned how to handle that a little bit.
‘You know you’re going to start quite fresh. You know you’re going to be a little bit more tired. I handle that better.
‘I still see myself with a club job in the future. Then, I look at the ages of some of the young coaches and managers and think: “Oh, I hope they don’t think I’m too old for it” – because I’m certainly not.
‘At this moment in time, I’ll just concentrate on what I’m doing here. In the short term we’ve got a big target to try and achieve.’
With Denmark having beaten Belarus 6-0 in midweek and scored five more than Scotland, a resounding win tonight would be useful given the fact goal difference could well come into the mix when it comes to escaping the group as winners.
‘In my time, we have done well against the so-called lesser teams in the group,’ said Clarke. ‘It is very important you get the points off these teams and it is very important we get the points off Belarus.
Clarke was in jovial mood as he prepares to oversee his 72nd match as Scotland boss
‘They will come here and be organised and difficult to break down. Until you break them down, it is a long night. It is up to us to approach the game properly, which we will. It is up to us to make sure that we create enough chances in the game and get the crowd excited, which we hopefully will.
‘Hopefully, on Sunday night, we are sitting smiling and thinking: “Roll on November”. They are two fantastic games to look forward to.
‘If you want to qualify, these are the games you have to win. You have to give yourself a platform to play against the bigger nations.
‘I feel like, over the barren years, those were the games where maybe we messed up against opposition we should be beating.’
Hibs’ Josh Mulligan has been drafted into the squad for the first time along with Rangers midfielder Connor Barron, with Clarke reporting he is optimistic that Aaron Hickey, injured in the victory over Greece, has not suffered any serious damage.
