Clarke on McKenna and Hanley injuries, Netherlands & Euros squad selection

Scotland manager Steve Clarke has been facing the media ahead of their friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

Here were his key points:

• Sees the four upcoming friendlies as “important” because he believes the better they play in them the better they will be prepared for the summer.

• Says they showed in recent games against world class teams that they can be competitive and need to show that again against the Netherlands.

• Sees the Dutch as at a “similar level to Spain” and “always competitive”. Looks at this as the kind of game for Scotland to try something “a little bit different” and they “just want to keep improving”.

• Training has been very intense and camaraderie has been very high with an “extra edge” – but the Euros still feels a little distant to Clarke.

• Insists squad places are still up for grabs with decisions still to be made. Says the players are all trying to show they want to be part of the squad to go to Germany in the summer.

• Says it was “disappointing” to lose centre-backs Scott McKenna and Grant Hanley to injury and will reassess the squad after the game against the Netherlands, deciding then if they want to add to it.

• When asked if either player were in danger of missing the Euros, says “they should both recover fine”.