Scotland's Ryan Christie celebrates with Ross McCrorie and Billy Gilmour after scoring to make it 1-0 during an International Friendly match between Gibraltar and Scotland at Estadio Algarve,Image source, SNS

Head coach Steve Clarke says Scotland "just need to find the final finish" before Euro 2024 after labouring to victory against Gibraltar in a pre-tournament friendly.

With the squad on a run of seven games without a win and afflicted with injury issues, it took 58 minutes to break the deadlock against the world's 203rd best side.

The opener eventually came through Ryan Christie, who lashed the ball home in anger just before the hour mark.

Che Adams added an emphatic late second to confirm a much-needed, if uninspiring win in Faro, Portugal.

"What we learned is that we can create chances and we just need to find the final finish," Clarke told BBC Scotland.

"We need to work on it in training and their confidence in terms of finishing.

"When it comes to Che Adams - bang, goal. That's the kind of confidence you need to show at this level.

"It was just to stay patient - 2-0, clean sheet. Let's use it as a training exercise, which it was. We're reasonably pleased."

The 2,000 travelling Scotland fans should not have had to wait so long to see their side find the net given the volume of chances they created against their minnow opponents.

Grant Hanley and James Forrest, in particular, were guilty of missing golden opportunities, but Christie and Kenny McLean also ought to have done better inside the box.

By half-time Scotland had registered 20 shots - most of which came inside the penalty area - but hit the target just twice.

Gibraltar, meanwhile, managed to work Zander Clark - albeit tamely - when Ethan Britto broke in behind the Scotland defence, with their only first-half attempt.

The game did not exactly spring to life after the break, but eventually Christie smashed in from close range after Andy Robertson's cross caused confusion.

Adams then rattled in a volley after being picked out at the back post by John McGinn in the closing minutes.

Those two flourishes were the only high points for Scotland as they move on to face Finland on Friday at Hampden in their final warm-up game, which is live on the BBC.

Player of the match - Ryan Christie

Image source, SNS
Image caption,

There were few outstanding candidates, but Christie was the main attacking threat for Scotland and got the opening goal.

Scotland learn nothing from grim game - analysis

This match was never likely to serve up much intrigue given the context.

A largely empty stadium. A Scotland squad with some players short of match fitness, and others concerned about suffering the same fate as Lyndon Dykes by getting injured so close to the tournament. And a poor Gibraltar side.

It was hardly a surprise this was a low tempo affair. In truth there is not much Clarke can take from it beyond getting some minutes into the likes of Hanley, Kieran Tierney, Ryan Jack and Adams.

Ross McCrorie made his debut at right-back but cannot be judged against such opposition. And even then the Bristol City player was caught out for Gibraltar's one chance in the first half, when a pass was curled in behind him.

What is a concern is the poor finishing. Scotland had enough chances to make this a lot more comfortable.

In isolation it could be written off, but a lack of killer instinct was also evident in the defeats by the Netherlands and Northern Ireland in March.

Germany, Switzerland and Hungary will be similarly unforgiving if that continues.

Ever since serenely qualifying for Euro 2024, Scotland's momentum has stalled and injury issues have dogged their build-up.

The loss of first-choice right-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson, and midfielder Lewis Ferguson, was compounded by Dykes' training ground injury.

Others such as Hanley, Jack, Ben Doak and Liam Cooper have barely played in recent months, and Adams has had a calf issue. Cooper was forced off in Faro, too.

The only positive note is it has stopped the run of seven games without a win, and warm-up friendlies scarcely reflect a team's tournament performance.

Three years ago Scotland were impressive in drawing with the Netherlands, while also seeing off Luxembourg, and failed to win a group stage game.

For Clarke it's all about what happens between 14 and 24 June.

What they said

Media caption,

Forrest admits holiday shake-up after Scotland call

Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie: "It's nice to get back on the scoresheet personally. But team-wise it's important to get the win and start building momentum again.

"We could have been two or three up at half-time and been a bit more clinical. That's something we need to work on going into the Finland game and Germany."

Scotland right-back Ross McCrorie: "The manager said go and do what I've been doing down at Bristol City. I enjoyed that.

"It's the pinnacle of a young footballer's career to play for the national team. I'm really happy and hopefully I made my family proud tonight."

Match stats

  • Scotland have won all three of their games against Gibraltar by an aggregate scoreline of 14-1

  • Scotland have ended their seven-game winless run in all competitions (D2 L5) with this their first win and clean sheet since beating Cyprus 3-0 in September last year.

  • Since winning back-to-back matches against Liechtenstein and Andorra in November 2022, Gibraltar have lost 13 successive matches across all competitions without scoring a single goal and conceding exactly 50 goals

  • Ryan Christie’s opener was his first goal for Scotland in 15 international appearances since netting against Republic of Ireland in September 2022. Indeed, four of his six international goals have been scored outside of Scotland.

  • Che Adams netted his sixth goal for Scotland and first since June 2022 against Armenia. This was his eighth substitute appearance for the national side but the first time he has found the back of the net from the bench.

What's next?

Scotland host Finland at Hampden in their final warm-up match on Friday live on the BBC (19:45 BST) before all focus goes to Munich, where Clarke's men open Euro 2024 against hosts Germany on 14 June (20:00).