Steve Clarke remains confident that Scotland will be ready for Euro 2024 this summer despite their winless run being extended to seven games with a 1-0 friendly defeat by Northern Ireland at Hampden Park.
The Scotland boss was looking for a response following a 4-0 defeat to the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday night but midfielder Conor Bradley’s first international goal gave Northern Ireland a first win in Mount Florida in 50 years.
Scotland have not been on a seven-game winless run since August 2004 to March 2005 and they take on Gibraltar and Finland in June friendlies before facing Euro 2024 hosts Germany in the opening game of the tournament at the Allianz Arena.
“I’m not counting,” said Clarke, who revealed captain Andrew Robertson will be assessed at Liverpool after going off with an injury. “We are going to be ready in June and that is the most important thing.
“The performance was okay, we wanted to win the game.
“Credit to Northern Ireland, I thought they were excellent, good shape, discipline, defended with their lives. We had 14 shots blocked, that is good defending.
“They had two chances and scored with one of them.
“They got the goal with the deflection, we didn’t find enough to get the goal to equalise or go on to win the game.
“We had a lot of the game. We tried our best to open them up. It was difficult to find space.
“It was a totally different game to what we have played recently, we were playing against the top teams and they open the pitch and you saw on Friday night that we manged to create a number of really good chances.
“Tonight when we needed a little bit of craft or guile towards the last third of the pitch we couldn’t find that and that is basically why we lose the game.
“We had more than the lion’s share of possession, 14 shots, but not one good enough to go into the back of the net.
“It’s probably fair to say we’re not very good at friendlies because we don’t win too many of them.
“Let’s hope when we come to the competitive games in June we are ready to go. I’m sure we will be.
“The biggest thing for us is to be ready for June.
“I’m a little bit late into the press conference. I would rather be sitting here in my position.
“Unfortunately Wales have just been knocked out on penalty kicks. It’s not all doom and gloom.”
Shannon Cooke’s late equaliser earned West Ham a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa before their Women’s Super League survival was confirmed.The Hammers had the better of the chances in the first half, with Jess Ziu and Riko Ueki causing problems in particular, but Villa grew into the game after the break and took the lead when substitute Alisha Lehmann struck against her former club.But Cooke ...
Pep Guardiola believes “incredibly fortunate” Manchester City were aided by the dry state of the City Ground pitch in their 2-0 win over wasteful Nottingham Forest.City reeled in Premier League leaders Arsenal as goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland at Forest reduced the gap to one point at the top with a game in hand, making themselves favourites for a fourth successive title....
Manchester City reeled Premier League leaders Arsenal back in with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest as the title race heads towards a thrilling finale.The Gunners moved four points clear when they beat Tottenham in a frantic north London derby earlier on Sunday, but City immediately responded thanks to goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland at the City Ground.Victory leaves them a point behind...
Brendan Rodgers hailed one of the “fathers” of Celtic’s recent success after James Forrest reproduced his vintage form with a match-winning double at Dens Park.The winger capitalised on a first start in five months to score both of Celtic’s goals in a 2-1 victory over Dundee, which kept them three points and five goals ahead of Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership ta...
Bromley will take on Solihull Moors at Wembley next weekend for a place in the Football League after coming from behind to defeat Altrincham 3-1 in their National League play-off semi-final.Alty scored the only goal of the first half in the 31st minute when Regan Linney tucked away a close-range effort.But the game turned on its head in nine minutes shortly after half-time, with Myles Weston headi...
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal’s frantic 3-2 derby win at Tottenham shows they are better equipped to win the Premier League this season – but warned his players not to get carried away.The Gunners had raced into a three-goal first-half lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal was added to by a Bukayo Saka strike and Kai Havertz header.The hosts ha...
James Forrest hit a double on his first start for five months as Celtic maintained their lead at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 victory at Dundee.Forrest was drafted in for only his fourth start of the season after coming off the bench to net in last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.Such was Forrest’s influence at Hampden that manager Brendan Rodgers adm...
Andoni Iraola challenged his Bournemouth players to finish the season in style after they wrote themselves into Cherries history with a 3-0 win over Brighton.Iraola’s in-form side won the battle for south-coast supremacy thanks to goals from Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert.Victory lifted Bournemouth into the top 10 and saw them break their record points haul in the top flight, s...
Let's start our 7M Daily Laugh today. PSG ARE LIGUE 1 CHAMPIONS AGAIN Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal BARCELONA WILL PLAY IN FOURTH CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL! The difference is clear It's just INSANE how this team never gives up, This is the True spirit of a champion. Florian Wirtz's reaction after yesterday's equaliser says it all, even the players don't believe what they are doing toget...
The 25-year-old footballer and OnlyFans model shared some snaps and a video of her holiday in Paris.Madelene Wright has stunned in a white corset while holidaying in ParisThe football star shared a snap of her classy outfitMadelene also posed for a mirror selfie in her fancy hotelMadelene stunned in a black dress on her Instagram story tooMadelene posed in a white corset and some grey jeans as she...
- 1 Guadiola's successor has been named
- 2 7M Daily Laugh - PL week 34
- 3 Barca planning bid for Newcastle striker Isak
- 4 Tuchel eyeing Premier League return
- 5 Stuart Attwell at the heart of the action again in Bournemouth’s win at Wolves
- 6 Pep Guardiola urges Manchester City to remain focused for title run-in
- 7 Hollywood star goes berserk as she celebrates crucial Arsenal goal
- 8 Everton move closer to safety after ruining Liverpool’s title pursuit
- 9 Odegaard's stunning Wag dances in stands while Arsenal batter Chelsea
- 10 Inside Jack Grealish and Sasha Attwood's sponsorships