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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gavin Berry

Steve Clarke admits Scotland frustration as 'friendly penalty' halts winning run

Steve Clarke is adamant VAR would have ruled out the penalty that earned Poland a last-gasp draw at Hampden to halt Scotland’s winning run.

The visitors were awarded an injury time spot kick by referee Robert Hennessy when striker Krzysztof Piatek went down in the box.

But TV replays showed there was no contact from either Craig Gordon or Grant Hanley but the Fiorentina man got up and converted to cancel out Kieran Tierney’s opener.

Scotland were going for a seventh straight win for the first time in 95 years and Clarke was frustrated that sequence has come to an end.

And ahead of the second match of their friendly double header against Austria in Vienna, Clarke told Sky Sports: “It’s a penalty decision for a friendly game and that’s probably the best way to describe it.

“I would think it would have been overturned if VAR was in use. We wanted to continue the winning run - seven wins in a row sounds better than six wins and a draw.

(SNS Group)

“We’d have got another clean sheet which we would have deserved. It’s a disappointment but not the end of the world and hopefully we can continue the unbeaten run in Vienna against Austria.”

Clarke will make changes for the Austria clash but was happy with the night’s work from his team and in particular a first goal for his country from Tierney thanks to a set piece which they have improved with specialists coach Austin MacPhee.

He said: “Set pieces are a massive part of the game and a part I felt we could improve on which is why I brought Austin (MacPhee) in.

“We scored off a set play and defended very well against a team that had a height advantage on us.

“I’m pleased. After such a long break the players were at it again and worked on the things we speak about all the time - the continuity, the shape was good.

Piatek goes down for the penalty (SNS Group)

“The team played well, possession was good and we created some good chances, especially in the first half, and we got the goal off a good set play.

“It was close the the eleven that finished against Denmark in November so all the boys know their job and the good thing is we’ve been pretty consistent over the last year in terms of how we play and the shape of the team.

“I saw a lot of those things and got some good work into the players.”

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