Scotland Men's Football Team

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• Scotland have gone six games without a win in all competitions (D2 L4) for the first time since September 2008. They have also conceded more than twice in six straight games for the first time since April 1961 (run of seven).

• They have lost four of their last six (D2) - more than in their 21 beforehand (W15 D3 L3).

• Netherlands have won four consecutive games - and kept a clean sheet - for the first time since a run of four from March-June 2013.

• They have won 14 of their last 17 home internationals (D2 L1), also keeping a clean sheet in 10 of those.

• Tijjani Reijnders scored his first senior international goal with Netherlands' first shot of the game

• Georginio Wijnaldum has scored in back-to-back internationals for the first time since November 2020.

Another defeat to digest.

And we want you to digest it right here, with us.

Whether you made the jaunt to Amsterdam or watched the game elsewhere, we want to hear from you.

Give us your take on all things Scotland here.

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Scotland head coach Steve Clarke: "It's a strange one. Obviously sore, losing 4-0 you can't really dress it up, it was painful.

"For 70 minutes it was really good then we concede a poor second goal. The biggest difference between the sides was clinical finishing. We created a lot against a good side.

"It is one to go away and digest but not get too emotional. The lads are disappointed with the way the game turned out, I am disappointed with the way the game turned out.

"There are plenty of positives but straight after the game you tend to forget about the positives. The scoreline is sore. We allowed the game to become too open, it suited the Netherlands more than it suited us and we paid for it.

"Lawrence can be pleased with his contribution. He's a striker he wants to score goals. He only had one big chance in the game and normally you'd expect Lawrence to score it but there will be another day.

"I have got to clear my head. I had an idea in mind what I might do on Tuesday night but the game tonight might have just changed that."

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

With 18 minutes to go, disappointment seemed inevitable for Scotland after countless squandered chances. But positives were aplenty. A flogging of this nature never seemed on the cards.

For over an hour, it was one of the best away performances against a top-quality nation by Clarke's side in recent memory.

There was a control, a confidence, perhaps a cockiness at times, about their play. Chance, after chance, after chance was created. Equally, though, they were wasted. A total of 13 of them.

Scotland were faced with an in-form Flekken, who did not flounder. Scotland did, though. And then some.

An ugly defeat developed. If this was the first rehearsal for the Euros, then the curtains need closed and a new routine concocted.

Or rather, a return to the old structure that served them so well in qualifying. The triple substitution that saw John Souttar, Lewis Ferguson and Che Adams enter the fray seemed to spook them.

Eyes could not be taken off the action in the first half for all the right reasons. By minute 86, whiplash could be brought about in an attempt to turn away from the misery.

Netherlands has never been a happy hunting ground. But there was hope on this voyage. Once again, it was misguided.

Netherlands: Flekken, Frimpong, Geertruida, Van Dijk, Ake, Wijnaldum, Wieffer, Reijnders, Simons, Gakpo, Depay.

Substitutes: Verbruggen, Bizot, De Ligt, Schouten, Weghorst, Timber, De Roon, Veerman, Blind, Malen, Koopmeiners, Dumfries.

Scotland: Gunn, Porteous, Hendry, Tierney, Gilmour, McTominay, Patterson, Robertson, McGinn, Christie, Shankland.

Substitutes: Kelly, Clark, Gordon, Ralston, Cooper, Dykes, Adams, Souttar, Armstrong, Ferguson, Taylor, McLean.

• Follow our coverage here

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It's clear who Scotland fans want to lead the line in tonight's friendly in Amsterdam.

Lawrence Shankland is the most picked striker in the BBC squad selector for Steve Clarke's side's meeting with the Netherlands - live on

With over 10,000 submissions, the in-form Hearts captain is included in close to 6,400 teams, way ahead of Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes.

Will the Tartan Army's wish be granted?

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Steve Clarke has been "irked" by Scotland's winless run and Amsterdam would be a "hell of a place" to end the streak, says BBC Scotland's chief sports writer Tom English.

The Scots are without victory in their last five games, but English told the Scottish Football Podcast that the mood is different with the Euros drawing closer.

"The feeling now is that something has changed," he said. "Something has flipped for the big game here. Everything is focused on Germany and that battle for the last few places - if there are a last few places in the squad.

"The intensity must have ratcheted upwards. We've given great praise to the Scotland team - rightly so - but I know that Steve Clarke is irked by the fact that they haven’t won in five and they need to arrest that decline. I know it annoys him.

"At least three of the five [Scotland are winless against] are just top class teams but he's not making an allowance for that.

"They'll want to get back into winning ways, get the feelgood [factor] back into the squad and this [Amsterdam] would be a hell of a place to start."

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

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What do you do on the morning of a game in Amsterdam? Prep work done. Preview podcast sent out into the world. Hours to kill before we go on-air, so you take a stroll into town and you happen upon the most unique football shop I think I've ever been in. And I've been in a few.

A room dedicated to Diego Maradona (three pairs of Diego socks for €40 if you're interested). A shrine to footballers who are no longer with us. A shot of Billy Connolly with George Best. Jerseys and tee-shirts in the hundreds. A random Old Firm picture. A remarkable place.

The Moustache XI is one of the highlights. Some outstanding efforts here. Big Andrzej Szarmach deserves to be right up there among the legends of the footballing facial furs. Nor can you argue with Hungary's Ferenc Meszaros and his impressive crumb catcher.

It's clearly a formidable line-up and one not to be messed with. But what about the right side of midfield? Roberto Rojas was good enough to make the Peru squad for 1978 World Cup, albeit he was sitting on the bench when a certain game was playing out.

He's an obvious weakness in this line-up though. He's a moustache minion among giants. There has to be better, doesn't there?

Willie Miller? Might be slightly out of position wide right but the great man could have played anywhere. Graeme Souness? The same applies. Any other suggestions, let me know and I'll march round there with a framed picture of a new hero to be hung on their very curious and surreally fantastic walls.

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Nathan Ake says the Netherlands will face a Scotland team who are "growing every year" when the sides meet in their friendly in Amsterdam on Friday.

"They have a very strong team with a lot of Premier League players," the Manchester City defender said. "I have played against many of their guys a lot.

"With John McGinn and Scott McTominay, they have really good players. Scotland is growing every year, so it's going to be a difficult game."

The Dutch have several players missing through injury and Ake was particularly disappointed with the news that Sven Botman has picked up an injury that will rule the uncapped Newcastle United centre-half out of the Euro 2024 finals.

"I sent him a message this morning," he revealed. "It's a shame for him. Hopefully, he has a good recovery."

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Internazionale centre-half Stefan de Vrij and Feyenoord left-back Quilindschy Hartman are the latest withdrawals from the Netherlands squad through injury as they prepare to host Scotland in Friday's friendly.

Forwards Brian Brobbey and Joshua Zirkzee, midfielder Frenkie de Jong and defenders Micky van de Ven and Sven Botman were already missing, with 33-year-old Al-Ettifaq midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum drafted back into the national set-up after an absence of nine months.

Scotland have also lost two central defenders after FC Copenhagen's Scott McKenna followed Norwich City's Grant Hanley in being ruled out this week.

They join midfielder Callum McGregor, full-back Aaron Hickey and forward Jacob Brown on the list of unavailable players.

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Scot Gemmill stressed that Scotland Under-21s still face a formidable task to qualify for Euro 2025 despite the head coach being delighted with their 4-1 win over Kazakhstan in Paisley.

The Scots - buoyed by the return of several key players - laid the foundations for their victory with three first-half goals from Josh Doig, Lyall Cameron and Tommy Conway, and Lewis Fiorini notched the fourth before the visitors hit back with a penalty.

They are now locked together on the 13-point mark with Spain and Belgium at the top of Group B after six matches and will conclude their campaign with vital double-headers in September and October.

"It's really good that we can look forward to the games in the autumn with confidence," Gemmill said.

"We know we have hard games to come, but I'm really pleased for the players to show that they are good players.

"In terms of qualification, it's brilliant we're in the position we are, but we have to keep going game by game because to qualify for the under-21s finals you almost have to be perfect.

"You have to get over 20 points, probably more than that. It is very difficult and that's why I constantly try to add context in terms of developing young players."

Gemmill felt his team were at their attacking best against the Kazakhs.

"It was really good to get a really good win against a really difficult opposition," he added. "If you look at previous results, it shows how hard they've been to beat.

"I think you could see we had a few players back who we didn't have at the end of last year."

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Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman will tinker with a three-man midfield in Friday's friendly against Scotland in Amsterdam.

The Dutch have a single defeat to France in their six games since the Nations League finals last June, winning the other five.

But they will depart from their usual formation of two holding midfielders with another more attacking player further forward behind the strikers against what Koeman expects to be a battling Scotland side.

The former Netherlands defender admits he is unlikely to employ a pure three-man midfield from the start at the Euro 2024 finals but wants his side to develop various ways of playing.

"We are going to play with three midfielders, three real midfielders," Koeman said, which is perhaps the reason why 33-year-old Georginio Wijnaldum has been drafted back into the national set-up after an absence of nine months.

"In the preparation for the European Championship, we are not going to experiment too much. But I've already said it - this team is able to play different systems.

"I have the reputation of being a cautious coach. But I would like to have the ball, attack, put pressure on the opponent. That is possible with multiple systems."

Koeman, who celebrated his 61st birthday on Thursday, pointed out that Scotland, "a strong team", can also "play out of different systems".

"Maybe they will start with five at the back, maybe they will play 4-3-3 as a system and that makes it always difficult for the opponent and of course in that team, they have some good individual qualities of players who play for big teams in the Premier League," he added.

"And they are a fighting team. That's always one of the big qualities and, even when they play away, they will get the support of the Scottish people and that makes it and interesting game."

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Steve Clarke has re-iterated that there are “definitely” places up for grabs in his final Euros squad for Germany in the summer.

“Absolutely,” he said the night before his team face the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

“There are always places up for grabs because you don’t know what’s going to happen. This week we have a number of players who are not here who would have been here but they’re injured, so nothing is going to change on that front over the next six or seven weeks.

“Players will get injured, it happens in football. Hopefully we don’t get too many and we don’t get big injuries that cause somebody to fall out (of the reckoning for the Euros) but I’m looking at 27 or 28 players and we have to narrow it down to 23, so there are decisions to be made, absolutely, 100%.”

Clarke is without Scott McKenna, Grant Hanley, Callum McGregor, Aaron Hickey and Jacob Brown for the Netherlands game, a list of absentees that only prove football’s unpredictability and the futility of naming squads ahead of time, says Clarke.

The Scotland manager says he knows why others do it, but he hasn’t sat down and thought about a final 23 yet: “I don’t have to do it until the middle of May.”

The key questions over his selection for the Netherlands game surround goalkeeper - will he opt for Angus Gunn, or will he be tempted by Zander Clark, or want a closer look at Craig Gordon? The smart money is on Gunn.

The brilliantly in-form Lewis Ferguson will probably be asked to fill the void left by McGregor and there’s intrigue over who starts up front. Lawrence Shankland has many supporters among the Tartan Army but it would be a surprise if Clarke strayed far from the tried and tested. Che Adams to start with Lyndon Dykes and Shankland held in reserve would appear to be the direction of travel.

Second-guessing Clarke’s thought processes has proven a mug’s game in the past, of course.

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Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Billy Gilmour says Scotland have to “get back to winning ways” after going five games without a victory.

Scotland have drawn two and lost three in recent times, albeit the defeats have come against Spain, France and England.

Speaking on the eve of a friendly with the Netherlands in Amsterdam, the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder argues that his team need to return to the way they played during the qualifiers for the Euros.

“We lost to top, top teams and we had injuries, but we definitely don’t want to be pushovers and easy to play against us," he said. "We want to get back to the way we started the campaign, which was being hard to break down and not conceding easy goals.”

Scotland have the Dutch on Friday and then Northern Ireland on Tuesday at Hampden.

“Two massive games coming up,” Gilmour says. “We want to get back to winning ways after five without a win. The Netherlands will be a tough opponent, but I think we’re in a good place.

“There’s lots of positivity. All players are playing well, everybody is bringing good energy and we’re hoping to get two wins this week.

“We’ve got great players - [Andy] Robertson, Scotty [McTominay], [John] McGinn and I’m learning a lot from these guys. It’s exciting times.”

Gilmour says he feels more a part of this group than he did when Scotland made the last Euros.

“When I came into it the last time, I thought I was coming for the experience and to be around the squad, but this time I have played a much better part in qualifying," he adds. "I’ve been in most of the squads, played a lot of the games and being called up is real honour.

“We have definitely improved as a team. There’s a togetherness and a better understanding of how everyone plays and that comes from the manager. The squad is really close.”

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