Scotland v England preview: Steve Clarke says match will help test progress of side

It’s the oldest fixture in international football and the latest meeting of Scotland and England throws up all sorts of intrigue 150 years on from their first encounter.

The last meeting of the pair ended in a 0-0 draw at Wembley in Euro 2020 at the start of England’s journey all the way to the final, and Gareth Southgate’s side look well on course for returning to the tournament next year despite being held by Ukraine on Saturday.

For Steve Clarke’s Scotland, five wins from five games has them within touching distance of a second European Championships in a row, with many fans eager to see if they can claim their first win over the Auld Enemy this century.

• Southgate ‘not too harsh’ on players after draw

‘Scots trying to close the gap’

Scotland manager Clarke says Tuesday’s friendly against England will be the perfect barometer of the progress his team has made.

Scotland are on the brink of reaching Euro 2024 after winning all five qualifiers so far and have risen 20 places to 30th in the world ranking under Clarke.

“In my lifetime, England have moved a bit in front [of Scotland],” he said.

“We are trying to close the gap on them and we’ll find out on Tuesday how much we’ve closed that gap.”

The Scotland boss expects “a competitive friendly, if you can have such a thing” at Hampden Park, not least because some players from the same club will be facing each other on the international stage.

He believes the run of matches that will mean Scotland take on England, followed by Spain in an away qualifier, and then a friendly against France in October, will help accelerate the development of his players.

Scotland need just two points from their final three qualifiers to guarantee an appearance at back-to-back Euros, although their place in next summer’s finals could also be secured on Tuesday if Norway and Georgia draw in Oslo.

“The more you play against the top sides, the better you become,” said the former Scotland right-back.

“This is the evolution of a group of young men who’ve grown up together and we’ve kept them together. We’ve got better and better.

“I’ve got some things I want to see on the pitch against England, testing ourselves against top opposition, which we are going to come across more often in the next 12-18 months.”

When asked about England being keen to secure Elliot Anderson after the Newcastle United midfielder pulled out of Scotland’s squad for the qualifier with Cyprus and Tuesday’s friendly, Clarke said “we like him too, so now he has a choice to make”.

‘Old-fashioned statement’ awaits Southgate

England head coach Southgate has described the prospect of winning Tuesday’s derby as an “old-fashioned statement”.

While meetings between the two nations were regular occurrences in previous decades, Scotland and England have only met seven times since the turn of the century.

You have to go all the way back to 1999 for the last time England tasted defeat in this fixture, such has been the gulf between the two in terms of talent and big tournament experience.

“You’re testing yourself, proving yourself, learning as a team and representing the nation,” said Southgate.

“We see it as a really good test of us as a team. You’re playing a high level opponent in a really intimidating atmosphere and they’re the nights that have been important in our growing process.

“It’s a challenge that we’ve got to head towards and relish. We have huge ambition as a team but also have a lot of work to do.”

England go into the game on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Ukraine on Saturday, but still sit top of Group C and on course for Euro 2024 qualification.

Team news

Clarke has no injury concerns after reporting “everyone is fit and available”.

Ryan Christie, Stuart Armstrong and Lyndon Dykes could come into the starting line-up after being substitutes for the win in Cyprus last Saturday.

England boss Southgate is reluctant to disrupt the composition of his side and said he would not “over-experiment”, even with one day less to prepare for the fixture than their hosts.

“We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness as we’ve had a day less preparation, experience, as well as finding out about players,” he said.

“But I think the first thing is not fiddling around with the team because we’re playing a top level side who will be giving us a high level challenge. You can’t over-experiment as that would be ridiculous.”

Match stats

• This match is taking place to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first meeting between the sides – a goalless draw – on 30 November 1872. This is the 116th meeting, with England winning 48 and Scotland 41.
• England have lost just one of the past 12 meetings (W8 D3), a 1-0 home defeat in the Euro 2000 play-off. They are unbeaten in four games at Hampden (W2 D2) since a 1-0 defeat in May 1985.
• Scotland have lost just one of their past 19 home games in all competitions (W14 D4), winning the past six in a row. They last had a longer home winning run between August 1995 and April 1997, a seven-game streak.
• England have only conceded a first-half goal in two of their past 12 matches, although one of these was the 1-1 draw against Ukraine in their last game. They last conceded in the opening 45 minutes in back-to-back matches in October 2020 (v Belgium and Denmark).
• Scotland have won 15 of their past 21 games (D3 L3), winning the past five in a row while scoring at least two goals each time.
• England have failed to win four of their past six away games (W2 D2 L2), as many as they had in their previous 13 on the road (W9 D2 L2).
• Scott McTominay has scored in his past three home appearances for Scotland, netting five goals. The last player to score in four consecutive home games was Kris Boyd in September 2007, who netted in each of his first four caps on home soil.
• Harry Kane has been involved in 30 goals in his past 28 appearances for England, scoring 24 and assisting six. He could become the first starting England captain to score in more than one game against Scotland, having previously netted against them in June 2017.