Steve Clarke insists he has nothing to do with John McGinn producing the goods for Scotland.
The Aston Villa man was on target to send the Scots on their way to a first win in an opening European Championship qualifying game since 2006. McGinn netted his 16th Scotland goal to go with the six assists he has, all of which have come under Clarke. Scott McTominay came off the bench to bag a brace to seal the points before a frustrated Cyprus went down to ten men.
There's no doubting McGinn's status as the main man for his country. The fans love him, as do his teammates and he keeps going from strength to strength in dark blue. If we are to make it Germany next year, he'll have played a massive part. Clarke too, although boss is taking zero credit for McGinn's international impact: "It's got nothing to do with me!" He told Viaplay Sports. "I just put him in the team and he does what he does.
"John's very versatile as well. Sometimes I can play him a little bit deeper and he'll still get in the box and score goals. Today we tried to get him higher up the pitch. He gets the first goal, which is always the crucial goal in the game. John's on 16 goals and six assists and has proven a very, very capable player for his country."
It was comfortable in the end, but with ten minutes to play there was nervousness creeping around Hampden with Cyprus trying to exert some pressure. That's not a new feeling for the Tartan Army, but Clarke was delighted with the way his men kept those nerves at bay in order to finish the job and let the capacity crowd enjoy the final moments thanks to McTominay's goals.
"There have been many nights and afternoons here at Hampden when a Scotland team is 1-0 going into the last ten minutes and it becomes very, very nervous. You can feel the crowd starting to get a little bit nervous. Credit to the players, they just kept believing. Obviously it changed a little bit when Cyprus went to a back four because suddenly it opens up and you get more spaces to break into On the whole, we defended well. We need to work a little bit on the press which at times wasn't quite right. But if we've nothing to work on, it gets boring eh?"
Che Adams was forced off at half-time and now faces a waiting game ahead of Spain on Tuesday. Clarke said: "We're just going to have a look at it. He felt his calf tighten a little bit. We'll have a look at it and work from there"
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