Steve Clarke says Scotland must have no regrets in Serbia play-off

Steve Clarke has urged Scotland to make sure they leave Belgrade with no regrets as they look to cross the final hurdle blocking their Euro 2020 dream.

The Scots are looking to end a 22-year wait to qualify for a major finals when they take on Serbia on Thursday night, but Clarke has no doubt his team grasp the enormity of the opportunity ahead of them.

He said: “When you go into every game, (no regrets) is obviously a message you give, that you leave everything out there on the pitch.

“This game, with its magnitude, means I don’t need to say that because the players understand if they come off the pitch with regrets then they will never forget that night.

“You go out there, you do your best, you do everything you can and hopefully the footballing gods give you a bit of luck, they smile on you a bit and you get the right result.”

Captain Andy Robertson has taken that message on board.

The Liverpool left-back said: “We will go out there and, whether it’s 90 minutes or 120, we need to come away with no regrets. We need to walk off thinking, ‘OK, we did our all there’.

“We believe if we do that, it will be enough. If it’s not, we’ll need to deal with that.

“It’s all been positive going into this game and we believe if we can put in the kind of performances we have done over the last couple of months it will be good enough to win the game.”

Clarke and his team are well aware of the importance of taking Scotland back to one of international football’s biggest stages.

He added: “Scott McKenna mentioned to me he was two the last time Scotland qualified.

“I was still playing the last time Scotland qualified, so it’s a very, very long time ago.

“Yeah, there is a generation that has definitely missed that atmosphere and feeling you get as a nation when you get to one of these tournaments, that proud feeling, so hopefully this group can deliver.”