Steve Clarke: Scotland World Cup place would ‘put right’ Ukraine defeat

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke says World Cup qualifiers will “fix” the disappointment of failing to beat Ukraine in the 2022 finals play-offs.

By qualifying for Euro 2020, Clarke led the country back to a major men’s tournament for the first time since 1998 and repeated the feat at last summer’s Euros.

But in what is about to be a record-breaking tenure, he is determined to erase the memory of the 3-1 Hampden defeat that ended his hopes of earning a place in Qatar.

“It’s definitely something we want to fix,” he said live on the BBC ahead of Sunday’s game against Belarus.

Victory will boost the Scots’ chances of qualifying for the men’s World Cup for the first time in 28 years and, combined with Greece’s defeat in Denmark, will ensure another play-off place.

Scotland finished second behind the Danes last campaign, losing only to the group winners, and will go head-to-head with them again this time around.

“It was on the back of what I thought was a really good campaign,” Clarke recalled of the match against Ukraine, where victory would have meant a play-off final with Wales.

“Everyone forgets that the match should be played in March” [it was rescheduled because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]when more people can fit.

“When you went into the game in June, the preparations were very, very strange and we had lost two or three important players and it didn’t go well for us that night.

“Frustrating, yes. It’s something we want to fix, yes.

“But at the same time, when you’ve been in the game as long as I have, you accept that there are going to be negative outcomes and difficult moments. This was definitely one of them because we felt we did enough in qualifying.”