Steve Clarke admits 18-year-old Lennon Miller should not have been criticised after the Motherwell skipper stated his desire to become the best player in the Scotland squad.
Following his inclusion in the senior set-up for the Nations League play-off against Greece, the teenager had said: ‘I’m obviously not going to go in and be the best player there, but I believe I could maybe in a couple of months be the best player there.’
That led to Clarke’s assistant John Carver suggesting what the player said was a ‘mistake’ and showed Miller needed ‘a little bit of guidance’.
Scotland midfielder John McGinn, while praising Miller, then added: ‘He’s probably thinking — why did I say that? But I said plenty of stupid things when I was coming through at St Mirren.’
However, Clarke told BBC Scotland on Wednesday: ‘I think that it’s wrong that he’s criticised for wanting to improve. He wants to be the best, what’s wrong with that?
‘Hopefully Lennon comes into this camp and sees how difficult it is to be the best and that should drive him on.’
Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller joins his Scotland team-mates during a training session
Clarke says it was wrong for Miller to be criticised because he wants to be best player
Lennon Miller, above left, is put through his paces as Scotland prepare for the Greece match
The Scotland boss also confirmed that the return of Kieran Tierney has left him with ‘a lot of thinking to do’ ahead of Thursday night’s first leg of the double header in Piraeus.
Clarke returned to a back four during the Nations League campaign due to the Arsenal defender’s absence through injury, where previously he was a key part of a back three.
With the Celtic-bound star back in the squad, Clarke said: ‘No headache, a nice problem to have when you have good players to select from.
‘We’ve also lost a few players in the build-up to the game, so we brought some younger ones in and it has freshened training up a bit, so it has been good preparation.
‘As a coach you want as many difficult choices as possible and I have a few of them.
‘I’m always thinking of changing things. You have to wait to see the team on the pitch.
‘It gives us another option. We have discussed it and spoken about it and hopefully we can come up with the right solution for the game.
‘Obviously we changed the whole way we approached the Nations League when we went with four.
Clarke says return of Kieran Tierney, above, has given him some thinking to do tactically
The Scotland boss has also been delighted to welcome George Hirst into Scotland squad
James Wilson is another young player who has been given his first call-up to Clarke’s squad
‘It worked well because we also had the outlet on the right-hand side with the pace of Ben Doak (who is missing through injury). So we didn’t have the option of putting Kieran into the team. So, yes, it’s given me a lot to think about.’
Clarke spoke about fielding an experienced side but was full of praise for new boy George Hirst.
The 26-year-old Ipswich forward was included after the paperwork cleared and qualifies for Scotland through his grandfather.
Clarke said: ‘He’s good, obviously. He’s a big lad. He’s had injury problems this season so he’s been a little bit in and out of the Ipswich team.
‘He’s scored some goals recently, which is good. I have always liked him. He’s similar in style and stature to Lyndon Dykes, who misses out with an injury.
‘Hopefully he can bring as much to the team as Lyndon has.
‘He’s a target player. We’ve always tried to have that type of forward player because we feel we’ve got goals in the midfield. I pray George can help us to maybe score a few more.’
Clarke is determined Scotland will still be a League A side following the second leg at Hampden Park on Sunday.
Greece boss Ivan Jovanovic sees the funny side ahead of his team’s clash with Scotland
Clarke keeps a close eye on his players as they limber up for the double header with Greeks
Scots skipper Andy Robertson wants to bounce back from Liverpool’s League Cup final loss
‘It’s important because of the work we have put into the group stage. We spent a long time trying to get into the top section. We managed to get into a position that puts us in the play-off and obviously we want to stay there.’
Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic is keen for his team to take on the role of underdog.
Ranked 45th in the world, Scotland finished third in their section behind Portugal and Croatia while the Greeks, who sit 39th in FIFA’s rankings, finished second behind England in League B Group 2 on goal difference.
Serbian Jovanovic, 62, said: ‘Scotland is a team that for years has been at a higher level than Greece.
‘They’ve recently played in the Euros, they’ve been in the league A, with Greece now trying to get into league A.
‘The Greek national team over the last few years has made steps, going from the third league to second league and now trying to get into the first league.’
The countries have met only twice before, both sides winning 1-0 at home in their 1996 European Championship qualifiers. They face each other again in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers this year.
