Steve Clarke on Scotland holding Portugal to goalless draw

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Steve Clarke on Scotland holding Portugal to goalless draw  15/10/2024  Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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00:00Steve, you told us yesterday not to doubt your players, how pleased are you with the

00:21way they dug in and ground out a draw against a very good side tonight?

00:25Yeah, good. Obviously, the point was important for us after the work we've put into the group

00:32to get off the mark is nice. So, yeah, Nations League off and running.

00:44How good is it to have something tangible to show because you've played four games,

00:49you've been competitive in all of them. How pleased are you to have something to show

00:52for your efforts?

00:54Yeah, pleased, pleased. Defensively sound, shaping the team good, denied a lot of space

01:03behind which Portugal played a lot in front of us. Good concentration in the box, determined

01:09defending at times from really good blocks, which you have to do against a team like Portugal

01:14and then when you need a couple of big saves your goalkeepers do it as well. So, everybody

01:19contributed to what is a well-earned point.

01:23Nicky Devlin came off the bench and had a big moment right at the end. Was your heart

01:28in your mouth? Were you thinking, here we go again, some late heartache? It was a brilliant block.

01:32No, it was fantastic. First cap for Nicky, a moment to remember because basically he

01:39got his point with that block. He was brave, put himself in. I had no doubts putting Nicky

01:44into the game. He's trained really well, fitted into the group. He's got good experience,

01:4830 years of age now, a lot of games under his belt. I knew when Tony was ready to come

01:54off that Nicky would be fine, and he was.

01:56Steve, you always said that the players had belief, but what can a result like that, taking

02:01that first point, do for their confidence?

02:03No, their confidence was fine. Everybody keeps talking about their confidence, but their

02:07confidence was fine because they know they can play well. Maybe with the ball tonight

02:13we didn't play quite as well as we normally do. I think a lot of the missed passes were

02:18probably down a little bit to fatigue because I asked a lot of the same boys to do a double

02:23header in the games. But no, I don't think they lack confidence. Obviously tonight's

02:31point against one of the top European sides is going to give us more confidence going

02:35into the November games, and we go to those games determined to get more points on the

02:42board.

02:49Ben Boak is only 18 years of age right now, and he wasn't born when Cristiano Ronaldo

02:55started his first ever game for Portugal as well. He put in a very impressive performance

03:00tonight at Hampden Park. What were your thoughts on his performance tonight?

03:03Ben? Good for such a young man to be asked to go again. It was a decision which went

03:11up my mind whether to keep Ben for 30 minutes at the end, maybe like Roberto did with Real.

03:18For me, he did so well in the game on Saturday that I thought it was better to start him

03:23and see how long he took before he got too tired and then I had to take him off. But

03:28the changes that we made also helped the team a lot.

03:31With your change of system potentially, going back to a back five, could you see him playing

03:35as a second striker with Che Adams as well, or would he just be as a winger in this formation

03:39for now?

03:40That's a discussion for the future, it's probably not a discussion for tonight.

03:46Steve, does this performance have to be a turning point for the team? It's obviously

03:50been a difficult run, but you saw the belief, you saw the togetherness of the team out there

03:53that it feels like this is you turned a corner in a sense?

03:56I think that togetherness has always been there. I don't think so much about turning

04:02a corner, I just think about working hard every time we come together to try and get

04:07points and be successful as a nation. That's what the boys want to do every time they come

04:12here, they work ever so hard to not let their country down and you see that tonight.

04:23I think we've all seen over the last few games you've talked about it in Croatia, just bit

04:27by bit getting back to where you want to be. You've always bought in with the players,

04:33do you feel as if the fans tonight are buying more into, rather than being down about stuff,

04:38we're starting to get back up again?

04:40I don't know. I don't know because I don't really look at fan reaction, I look at the

04:45reaction of my players. That's all I base it on, myself, my staff, my players. Obviously

04:52if the team's picking up points and doing well and playing well, the fans will be with

04:57us, the fans have always been with us. I don't doubt the supporters.

05:03They were definitely with you, Steve. They seemed nervous, the team's taken so many late

05:09blows in recent games, they were almost thinking, is it going to happen again? Did you feel

05:14that or did the players feel that?

05:16Obviously the players didn't feel it because they just dug in and they ground out a really

05:21good point for us. The fans can be nervous in a game like that when the opposition have

05:26so much possession in front of you, you're always thinking they're going to create a

05:30big, big chance. When they did create the big, big chance, Craig made the save, which

05:34is the first time in a long time I've celebrated a goalkeeper's save. I was talking to John

05:39and actually celebrated it. So it meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to everybody

05:43in the stadium because that's what gets you the point. We spoke before the game about

05:48doing all the dirty stuff, the hard work, the ugly stuff if you like, and the boys did

05:52that fantastic tonight.

05:55Steve, you spoke after the Finland game back in June and said you wouldn't be surprised

06:00if you saw Craig Gordon back in the Scotland side and lo and behold he's back and probably

06:08got you the point tonight with the save at the end. What does his performance in these

06:13two games tell you about him and how much he has to offer the country going forward?

06:18What I've always said about Craig, ultimate professional, determined to play as long as

06:22he can and you see that tonight with his performance. Still performing at a very high

06:26level for his club and now for his country again. Now we're delighted to have him back

06:32in the squad.

06:33Steve, how impressed were you by John Suter and Grant Hanley and the partnership developing?

06:38Really good, really good. I thought they were both excellent. John obviously playing every

06:43week with Rangers so a little bit more fitness. Grant you have to give credit, not playing

06:50at Norwich, but comes here and puts on two performances like that over the two games.

06:56But I think defensively you have to credit everybody. Tony Ralston, good, against difficult

07:01opponents. Jota and then Leal comes off and I think Leal coming off the bench was ultimately

07:06done for Tony's calves, which is why Nicky got on the pitch. Andy always steady away,

07:13like I've spoke before about Andy, he does a great job for the team and I thought the

07:18midfield three in front were excellent. Billy Gilmore, Kenny McLean and Scott McTominay,

07:24which gives you that basis to defend well.

07:27Steve, you said your players did the dirty side of the job well when they had to. They

07:31kept the structure, they created opportunities. Does that make this feel even more significant

07:36in terms of this point against that opposition?

07:41I think we always try and do the right thing, we always try to be solid defensively. Recently

07:49we've had one or two little lapses in certain moments in the game that cost you dear against

07:55this type of team. So tonight, maybe at times we got a little bit fortunate, but nobody

08:01can deny us the fortune because we've worked ever so hard to get that little break that

08:07maybe one or two missed chances. Reports were thinking they could have scored, but

08:11we worked hard to earn the breaks and it's a well-deserved point.

08:16Steve, just before you go, can I ask you about your reaction to Scott Tuchel being the next

08:22England manager?

08:25I don't really have one, I'm the Scotland manager, so maybe if we play them in the future

08:29I'll talk about Mr Tuchel.

08:37Good phone, good phone.

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