NEXT week’s fixture against Turkey has come at an unusual time for Steve Clarke. At the start of the year the Scotland manager will have been hoping to have been spending the coming weeks finalising his preparations for the World Cup in Qatar, yet instead he finds himself organising his team for what some would call a meaningless friendly.
Try telling the former Kilmarnock boss that, though. Wednesday’s encounter at the Diyarbakir Stadium is the final run-out for the national team this calendar year and the importance of the match is not lost on Clarke. Maintaining squad cohesion via another international camp is of utmost importance, he stresses, with no further matches pencilled in until the Euro 2024 qualifiers kick off in March.
