The national team manager selects four goalkeepers, but he must make difficult choices loom.
Steve Clarke showed his commitment to the players who have supported him well in recent years by giving Craig Gordon the opportunity to earn a spot in the Euro 2024 squad. As Clarke keeps his options open, the 41-year-old is one of four goalkeepers named in a 25-man group for friendlies this month against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.
With Callum McGregor, Aaron Hickey and Jacob Brown missing out through injury, Clarke hopes to have some tough decisions to make when he whittles his squad down to 23 players by the June 7 deadline – seven days before Scotland take on Germany in the tournament opener.
There were no surprises in the latest squad. Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack is absent after being troubled by fitness issues in recent months while Josh Doig and Robby McCrorie have dropped out following November’s games against Georgia and Norway. Lawrence Shankland retains his place after netting in Tbilisi following his late call-up while Angus Gunn, Gordon, John Souttar, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Grant Hanley are all back in following injury.
Clarke remarked, “It’s good to get a few back.” “I would have preferred to have had three or four of them on the squad, but they are still absent. However, the most important thing for me is to make sure that everyone is available and fit when May rolls around because I have some difficult decisions to make. It will be regrettable for those who lose out if we can make it to May and I have to make those difficult choices, but that is a necessary part of my job. When I’m ready, I’ll do it.
“There’s always opportunity but what I can’t really get my head around is this squad, you talk about the core squad, they haven’t let anybody down,” he remarked in response to the question of whether there was room for anyone to make a late push for the squad. They deserve to travel to the Euros because they have performed incredibly well for their nation.
Since returning from a double leg break, Gordon has not been able to remove Zander Clark from the Hearts squad; nonetheless, the 74-time capped custodian has started in three Scottish Cup matches. On Monday night, Clarke witnessed him maintain a perfect record as Steven Naismith’s team advanced to the semi-finals at Cappielow against Morton. The former Kilmarnock manager gave an explanation for his selection of four goalkeepers, including Liam Kelly of Motherwell in addition to Clark, Gunn, and Gordon.
“It provides us with an opportunity to examine Craig closely because he has played three competitive games and, to be fair to the opponents Hearts have faced in the cup, probably not games in which Craig was overworked,” the man stated. Thus, it will be pleasant to have Craig practice among the other goalkeepers. One of those goalies will not play in the Euros, while the other three will.
While Brown (knee) and Hickey (hamstring) are recuperating from surgery, McGregor’s Achilles issue remains unclear as Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stated last week that a scan had produced inconclusive results. “I had a quick conversation with Callum this week since I knew he wouldn’t be attending camp, but I don’t think there are any major problems going forward,” Clarke stated.
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