Steve Clarke dropped a bombshell in Warsaw when he admitted he could drop Ben Doak for Scotland’s must win match with Poland.
The national boss admitted during a pre-match media conference at the National Stadium that Doak is not certain to keep hold of his starting place may just three days after the youngster’s man of the match display in Friday night’s 1-0 win over Croatia. Clarke insisted he is not concerned about a potential backlash should he choose to keep Doak on his bench.
And he repeated a warning that the country should not pin its hopes on a kid who has only just turned 19-years-old. Clarke showed signs of becoming fatigued with the recent outbreak of Doak-mania when he was asked about the Liverpool winger for the first time. He said: “First of all, congratulations on asking a few questions before we actually get round to talking about Ben! I appreciate that.
“He’s obviously feeling good about himself but he’s in among good people and we’ll keep his feet on the ground. He’s a big talent for now and a big talent for the future.”
And, later, when asked if two games in such a short space of time might be too much for the youngster he responded: “That’s why – as I sit here now – I haven’t named the team.
“All the boys who finished the game the other night, you have to take a look and make sure they wake up tomorrow morning fit, fresh and ready to go. That’s something else you have to think about.”
And when it was pointed out that he would disappoint a huge percentage of the Tartan Army if he chose to take Doak out of the firing line he answered: “Yeah, there would be. But that’s my job.”
Clarke, though, knows that he has a potential game changer on his hands with a player currently on loan at Middlesbrough. But he added: “He can be as long as we look after the boy and make sure that he continues to develop. A lot of people see the good things that he does. Me and my coaching staff are a little bit more analytical. We’ll see other things that he doesn’t do quite so well because he’s only a young player and he’s looking to learn.
“I think he’s in a good environment at Middlesbrough in terms of learning the game and working on the game. When I watch his progress there, from when he got into the team until now, he’s improved already in my opinion.
“But there’s a lot to work on over the years. But, at the moment, you guys can all be excited about what he does with the ball. There’s plenty of time for him to develop and it’s important not to put too much pressure on the boy.”
A win could carry Scotland into the last eight of the Nations League – and secure a place in the top seeds for the World Cup qualifiers. And Clarke is confident his Scotland side is a different proposition from the one Poland beat at Hampden on opening night back in September.
He said: “There’s been a progression for sure. We obviously came into it off the back of another appearance at a major tournament in the summer, where we felt we could have done a little bit better.
“You have to build on that. You have to park it and move on. I feel we have managed to do that in this campaign. Are we in better shape? We’ll find out tomorrow night.
“The challenge for us is to come to a difficult place away from home against one of the top European sides and get a positive result. If we can make that positive result three points then that would be great for everybody.”