Denmark 0-0 Scotland: Steve Clarke pleased with disciplined performance

Scotland boss Steve Clarke was pleased with his side’s showing in their 0-0 draw with Denmark and felt his team selection paid off in a tough match.

The national team travelled to Copenhagen hoping for a positive start to the World Cup qualifying campaign and got just that as Scotland matched the top seeds and could even have taken more than a point from the opening game.

Though Denmark had the majority of possession, Scotland had a number of good opportunities to score, with Ryan Christie and Lyndon Dykes in particular having good chances to find the net.

The creative moments and defensive solidity pleased the head coach, who said his players gave everything they had in a spirited and hard-working display.

“It was a good disciplined performance,” Clarke said. “Denmark’s a really good side, especially at home.

“We knew we’d have to defend well and we certainly did that as a team.

“But also when we had the ball, we created some moments in the game.

“Maybe just a little bit more quality on the final bit, we could have got the goal that would have turned one point into three, so it’s a good start to the group, but lots of points still to pick up.”

The Scotland boss had sprung a surprise with his team selection, opting to start both Dykes and Che Adams in attack as well as starting Grant Hanley in defence alongside John Souttar.

He explained how he had wanted to challenge Denmark and felt a “brave” selection gave the best chance of success.

“That’s my job as head coach, to make these calls,” Clarke said.

“You have to look at the game, you have to look at the opposition, you have to decide what you think might be the best way to help the players to get that result.

“So if I’m not brave, I might as well not be in the job.

“Obviously, physicality was a big thing for it because we know the physicality of the Danish side.

“We identified one or two things that might help us to take the team up the pitch.

“The last time we came here, I remembered being camped in from almost the first minute.

“So we recognised one or two things that would maybe help us to get up the pitch and sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t.

“I think I’ve always tried to show flexibility.

“I maybe don’t get the press headlines about that, but we’ve always tried to change and sometimes you’ve got a change to suit the opposition, the way the opposition play and it worked tonight.”