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Steve Clarke wants his Scottish heroes to forget about euros for now and set foot in the 2022 World Cup.
The national team made history in Serbia on Thursday night by reaching a major tournament for the first time in 23 years.
But the Scottish coach now wants to turn him into a double by creeping closer to a World Cup play-off spot this week.
His team will face Slovakia on Sunday and Israel on Wednesday in two vitally important games in the Nations League.
It only takes three points to finish at the top of their group and take a big step towards Qatar’s potential qualification two years from now.
Clarke said: “It is important that we refocus now for the World Cup.
“I interrupted the player celebrations the other night to have five minutes of serious talk.
“I reminded them that we have qualified for Euro 2020, but now we can put that in the closet.
“It gives us something to look forward to next summer. But now it’s about the next tournament.
“That will be in Qatar in 2022 and we want to participate in that as well.
“We know better than anyone how important these Nations League games are. It gave us the path to Euro 2020.
That started in 2018 with Alex McLeish. That’s where this journey began, in Section C of the Nations League.
(Image: SNS Group)
“I texted Alex to thank him for starting it and luckily we were able to finish it in Serbia.
“But it’s important that we build on this momentum and qualify for the next one.
“Most of the team are at a very good age and are reaching a point in their lives where they have a good international experience and are winning more.
“There is a nucleus there, the nucleus of this team, hopefully, they will be able to continue for a few more years and play another classification.
“That has to be our goal.”
Reaching the euros will also have a positive financial impact on our game.
Clarke and his players have guaranteed that around £ 10 million will go to the SFA coffers at a difficult time when they have had to lay off staff.
The manager hopes that the achievement, and what comes with it, can save jobs at Hampden in the future.
When asked if he felt that pressure heading into the game against Serbia, he said: “It wasn’t something that was on my mind, but I was aware of it.
“When you work, your bosses tell you certain things. Everyone knows that economically and financially this is a very difficult time.
“The SFA has already secured a loan of £ 5 million to try to help with the process of overcoming this global pandemic.
“The fact that we have qualified means that some income is going to come in.
“It will probably be too late to save some of the jobs that are going to be lost, which is a shame.
“But maybe it will stop future layoffs, I don’t know. But I know it is important because it has been a long time since we qualified.
“You have to understand that everyone needs money to come in.
“The SFA has had no income from the door receipts, so I’m sure this is a welcome help for them.”
Clarke will make changes to his squad for the Nations League clash with Slovakia, and captain Andy Robertson has doubts about a major injury.
People like Liam Palmer, Scott McKenna, Liam Cooper, Greg Taylor and Stuart Armstrong could participate.
But Clarke revealed that his biggest injury concern is assistant coach John Carver, who broke his calf during Thursday night celebrations in Belgrade!
He said: “Mentally, for a lot of the guys it was a very difficult night on Thursday.
“I know the party and the celebration have made many headlines.
But due to the grueling nature of the game, emotionally and physically, it actually broke on its own.
“You get to a stage at night where you’re just tired and you go to bed.
“But the effort in the game was enormous, so I will have to make some changes to the team.
“I will talk to certain players about whether they are ready to play again.
“Because at the back of the next game we have another one on Wednesday against Israel.
“The biggest doubt is Andy. In fact, he checked in earlier in the week with a tight hamstring after the Liverpool game.
“So we have to be careful, we don’t want a tight hamstring to turn into a tear.
“We have to try to protect all the players as much as we can.
“And I have to mention that the worst injury is actually John.
“Unfortunately, he has ended up on crutches. Although in his defense, I must point out that in the end he was injured on the field.
“Someone jumped on his back and sadly his calf exploded. He has a very sore one.
“He’s limping but he’s making a brave face.”
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