Steve Clarke insists Scotland are raring to go ahead of tomorrow night’s Euro opener against Germany.
The Scots kick off the tournament at the Allianz Arena in Munich and will be cheered on by thousands of the Tartan Army who have made the journey over for the Euro 2024 party. Clarke will be without key players including Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson and Lyndon Dykes after they missed out on the final 26-man squad due to injury.
There have been concerns over the fitness of Scott McTominay, Ryan Jack and Stuart Armstrong as the trio recover from their own knocks but Clarke has revealed he has a full team to choose from as he looks to mastermind an upset tomorrow night.
The national manager said: “Everyone is fully fit, flying, desperate to be selected and ready to go. They’ve been good. There’s always an edge in training. You’d expect that as you approach a big match. You’d be disappointed if it wasn’t there so that edge is nice to see.”
While Scotland are the Group A underdogs, Clarke believes his squad can stun the host nation as millions prepare to tune into the tournament curtain-raiser. He said: “Absolutely. That’s why we’re here. We believe we can get a result every time we go to the pitch otherwise what’s the point? We’ve prepared well, we think we’re ready and hopefully you see that tomorrow night.”
It’s estimated more than 150,000 Scotland fans have invaded Munich as they savour a return to major tournaments and Clarke hopes to make the country proud.
He said: “It gives us a big boost. We know they are here to support us. They are going to be behind us every minute of every game and that’s really important for us.
“We’ve had a little taste of it down where we’re based, some people there have made the walk to training more enjoyable. I’m sure there will be a few around in Munich tonight that we won’t see, I hope they enjoy themselves and behave themselves!”