Scotland Men's Football Team

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On a frustrating night for Scotland, midfielder Lewis Ferguson was a bright spark for Steve Clarke.

The Bologna midfielder replaced captain Andy Robertson in the first half of their defeat to Northern Ireland after the left-back suffered a suspected ankle injury.

Ferguson says it has been "difficult to get as many minutes" as he wants, but he is "always positive" about forcing his way into a "really strong" midfield.

"I always want to get on the pitch to show what I can do," the former Aberdeen midfielder added.

"Obviously it wasn't best circumstance with Robbo getting injured. When I get my chance, I've got to try and impress the manager."

Ferguson says he has "improved massively as a player and person" following his move to Bologna, but he isn't taking any notice of speculation linking him with a move away.

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Here's how you can keep across tonight's international friendly between Scotland and Northern Ireland at Hampden Park:

You can watch LIVE on BBC Scotland and BBC Three from 19:30 GMT.

You can listen LIVE on BBC Radio Scotland from 18:00 GMT.

And you can follow LIVE text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.

Phil Goodlad is joined by Mark Atkinson, sports editor for The Scotsman and Northern Irish broadcaster Michael Clarke to preview Scotland’s friendly with Northern Ireland.

They also take a look at the latest in Aberdeen’s search for a new manager and ask if Michael O’Neill would be a good fit for the job.

Listen to the full episode here.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland

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Scott McTominay says he was never going to "spit the dummy out" when asked to play as a centre-back for Scotland.

The Manchester United midfielder was frequently used on the right side of a back three during Scotland's route to - and during - Euro 2020.

Now showing his goalscoring prowess for club and country, the 27-year-old admits he much prefers playing in the middle of the park and making an impact in an attacking sense.

"The manager asked me if I could do a job bringing the ball into midfield and defending, obviously, whenever the opposition had the ball," McTominay said. "That was fine, it was no problem.

"I've always seen myself as a number eight and someone who likes to carry the ball and get into the box and and score goals and make things happen.

"But I'm not going to spit my dummy out and say I don't want to play, that's not in my nature in my whole way growing up through the [Manchester United] academy.

"I had to play up front in the Under 21s a couple of times just because that was what was best for the team and I look back with great memories of that."

Dutch great Rafael van der Vaart criticised the Netherlands' display in Friday's 4-0 win over Scotland and believes the Scots should have won by the same scoreline. (Herald - subscription required), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

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Steven Beacom, the Belfast Telegraph's chief sports writer, says Scotland will start Tuesday's friendly against Northern Ireland as "big favourites", but expects the visitors to play "without fear" at Hampden.

Scotland are currently on a six-game winless streak, but Beacom expects them to end that run against Michael O'Neill's side.

"Scotland are going to be big favourites in front of a passionate crowd," Beacom told Good Morning Scotland.

"What you will see is a young Northern Ireland side who play without fear. Scotland are going to dominate possession, and it will be up to NI to soak that up and hit them on the break.

"Northern Ireland have pace about them with Connor Bradley and Isaac Price, but Scotland will fancy this. They'll think it's a great chance to end their poor run of results.

"I can't wait to see Bradley's match-up with Andy Robertson, who has been like a mentor to him at Liverpool. That's going to be fascinating."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland

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Steve Clarke has backed captain Andy Robertson for his strong post-match comments in the aftermath of Scotland's demoralising defeat in Amsterdam on Friday.

The Liverpool left-back said the squad were "embarrassed" by their collapse to The Netherlands, warning a repeat "can't happen" at the summer's Euros or his side will be "looking at the exit".

But his national team manager is firmly behind the high standards the Premier League and Champions League winner demands, and says he expects similar throughout the Scotland camp.

"That's what we need from everybody in the squad," Clarke said. "We always try to set the bar as high as we can. We want to improve.

"I keep saying there's improvement in the group, I think for long spells in the game the other night you could maybe get a glimpse of that improvement that I speak about, but then towards the end we didn't do what we were good at and that's why the score line went the way it went."

"A lot of what we spoke about in training and what we tried to do in training we transferred to the pitch and it worked. It worked well for a long time in the game."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland

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Scotland manger Steve Clarke has been speaking to the media ahead of his side's international friendly with Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening - live on BBC Scotland.

Here are the key points:

• Admits his players “had to pick him up” after the 4-0 defeat to The Netherlands on Friday, as he tends to “sulk a little bit longer" than the squad.

• Says a “win would be nice, with a clean sheet and a good performance”, but then he would “probably” prioritise victory over performance tomorrow against Northern Ireland. Although “has no doubt” his squad can deliver both at Hampden.

• His players just want to “get out on the pitch” and “look to put some right some things that went wrong the other night” in Amsterdam.

• On picking a side to face Northern Ireland, he says his plans haven’t changed after the collapse to The Netherlands. Clarke suggests he may make one less substitution than he originally planned.

• After captain Andy Robertson branded their capitulation "embarrassing", the manager says he likes hearing the Liverpool left-back and others set the bar high, adding "we want to improve".

We asked who you would like to see start for Scotland against Northern Ireland on Tuesday, following Friday's disappointing result against the Netherlands.

Here's what you had to say:

Graeme: I thought the performance against the Netherlands was far from disastrous but Lawrence Shankland needs to score if he wants to start. I would give him another shot against Northern Ireland but if he can’t perform on Tuesday he should be on the bench in Germany.

Patrick: Personally, I wasn't impressed with Shankland's performance in front of goal. He played well as an all-rounder, but ultimately was ineffective in the final third. In my opinion, I think starting either Che Adams, a promising and fast forward, or Lyndon Dykes, our main aerial threat, would help us significantly in front of goal.

Brodie: Lewis Ferguson in from the beginning please alongside Billy Gilmour. That gives us a defensive and an attacking player in the middle.

Doug: We have to start Tuesday’s game with our best XI and treat it like a competitive match. We can’t afford not to win this game from a morale point of view. A goalkeeping change is also needed.

Lewis: Go with the same starting XI, there is no need to change it. Play with the same level of intensity as Friday night and the goals will come. Then look to see out the game with a clean sheet. Three wins and three clean sheets in these next three friendlies will do wonders for confidence.

Anon think there has to be a real discussion about Nathan Patterson. I was his biggest backer but honestly the boy doesn't look sharp of mind. We can't go up against the big guns with him at right wing-back.

Ryan: Ferguson has got to start for me. He's only started one game for Scotland in an attacking midfield role and deserves a chance to start in the position he plays for Bologna.

Despite an impressive performance from the Scots, it was an ultimately disappointing night against the Netherlands on Friday.

What changes should Steve Clarke make to the starting XI for Tuesday's test against Northern Ireland? Does Lawrence Shankland keep his spot up front? Should Lewis Ferguson be in from the start?

Have your say here.

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Anthony Ralston insists Lawrence Shankland "should be proud of himself" despite his missed opportunity against the Netherlands.

The Hearts striker spurned his one clear chance in the 4-0 loss in Amsterdam, but Ralston praised his performance.

"He [Shankland] is a top-quality striker, he’ll be disappointed, I think it took a slight bobble," the right-back said. "He finishes those all the time, but he did well and he should be proud of himself."

Despite the heavy loss, Ralston believed there were positives to take from the game - but admitted Scotland have to maintain high standards when going behind.

"I felt for the majority of the game we did really well, as a squad we felt that," he said. "Had we taken our opportunities we would have been in a better place in the game.

"But we know as a squad what our standards are and when the goals go in it’s not to let that slip which we were disappointed with, but it’s important we bounce back on Tuesday [against Northern Ireland].

"We demand off each other high standards but we’ll analyse the game and where we went wrong and put it right."

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With just three more friendlies before the Euros, it was a far from ideal result for Scotland against the Netherlands.

But how did Scotland's Euro 2024 group stage opponents get on this weekend?

There was an ominous result for opening game opponents Germany - they eased to a friendly victory over tournament favourites France 2-0.

Steve Clarke will have to be wary of a fast start from the host nation, with 20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen forward Florian Wirtz scoring after just seven seconds for Germany.

His first goal for his country would have been the fastest international goal on record had Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner not opened the scoring after six seconds in his country’s friendly against Slovakia earlier on Saturday.

Arsenal's Kai Havertz turned in Jamal Musiala's cutback three minutes into the second half to confirm victory for Julian Nagelsmann's side.

Switzerland played out a fairly uneventful 0-0 draw against Denmark, but suffered a blow when goalkeeper Yann Sommer was forced off with an ankle injury,

The 35-year-old Inter Milan stopper would be first choice for the Euros, so will be hoping to make a speedy recovery.

Scotland's final group stage opponents Hungary were winners in their home game against Turkey, with Dominik Szoboszlai's penalty the only goal of the game.

The win came despite Turkey enjoying more possession and registering double the amount of shots as Hungary.

It continues a strong run for the hosts who are unbeaten since a defeat to Italy in September 2022 (eight wins and five draws).