The national team boss also spoke about youngster Ben Gannon-Doak as he announced his World Cup double-header squad
Scotland skipper Andy Robertson
His captain is being phased out at Liverpool even though everyone apart from Arne Slot thinks it’s a retrograde step.
And his young teenage talisman, having been allowed to leave Anfield by the Dutchman, is restricted to the odd cameo role off the bench at Bournemouth.
Steve Clarke would have been fooling no one yesterday if the Scotland boss had claimed not to be a bit concerned by the potential consequences of Arne’s Anfield axe-wielding.
Concerned? A little bit. Certainly enough to hold a heart-to-heart with Andy Robertson last week – a follow-up to an initial conversation in the summer when it became obvious that new recruit Milos Kerkez was being fitted up for his first-team shirt.
And also enough for Clarke to admit the bruised confidence of youngster Ben Gannon-Doak might need a gentle massage when he turns up at Scotland’s camp next week to prepare for a crucial World Cup double-header against Greece and Belarus.
Such is life for the national coach who, no matter what collateral damage might come his way, has to keep his own squad on track towards next summer.
The good thing is, he’s been in this movie plenty of times before. And he’s wise enough to have seen them all coming from a mile off.
Clarke named a 22-strong group as the clock ticks down to a potentially campaign-defining, international break.
And the inclusions of Robertson and Gannon Doak were never in any doubt.
Asked if he can be sure Robertson is ready to step back into the firing line after sitting out so much of the early part of the season his answer was unequivocal. Clarke said: “100 per cent.
“I’d a good chat with Andy last week and a good chat with him before the season.
“And it has panned out pretty much how we thought it would at the time, that Kerkez would start in the team but Andy would find his way into the team.
“That’s what’s happened. He’s had minutes. They have a game tonight and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start in Turkey against Galatasaray. So we always knew Andy would get lots of minutes.
“On the plus side for us, if he’s getting good minutes for Liverpool but not getting all the minutes, it means he comes into Scotland camps probably a little bit fresher than he has been in recent years, which can only be good for us.”
And very probably, with a point to prove to the manager who seems to think his time on Merseyside is nearing its end.
Clarke added: “As a player you’ve always got a point to prove to your club manager, your international manager, to all the pundits or you guys or all the fans – you’ve always got a point to prove every time you go to the pitch.
“When you’re captain of your country you’ve probably got a little bit more of a point to prove.”
Ben Gannon-Doak in action for Scotland against Belarus
The same goes for Gannon Doak, this would-be game-changer of a winger who sealed a £25million move to the south coast while Kerkez was heading in the opposite direction.
Asked if he would rather have seen the 19-year-old get more game time in the Bournemouth starting XI Clarke said: “Yeah, you would. But you’ve also got to understand that he’s a young player who’s made a big move.
“He’s going to a club that have started the season well without Ben in the team. So he’s going to have to be patient. When he gets his minutes on the pitch he’s going to have to show what he can do.
“He got just over 15 minutes last weekend. He was involved, almost gave a penalty away at one end, had a chance when the ball fell to him late in the game, he snatched his chance a little bit.
“He had a couple of Ben Doak dribbles and managed to get a corner off one of them. And that’s what he has to do.
“He has to go on the pitch in those 15 minutes and make sure that he catches his manager’s attention. And if he does that, he’ll get more minutes.”
Scotland boss Steve Clarke and skipper Andy Robertson
And yet Clarke has been around the block often enough to realise there is a risk factor involved where the youngster’s levels of self-belief are concerned.
He said: “We’ve got good people in the squad so we can keep Ben on the straight and narrow and keep his confidence up.
“He’s obviously got Ryan Christie at his club. I’m sure Ryan will be helping him out as much as he can.
“Ben just has to concentrate on making sure when he gets the minutes he catches the manager’s attention for all the right reasons.”
Clarke’s own attention was caught by a Bundesliga hat-trick from Union Berlin’s Ollie Burke just the other weekend.
But just not enough to make the manager believe the time is right to bring the one-time wonderboy back into Scotland’s fold.
He said: “People seem to think that because I tend to pick the same players more often than not that I don’t look at other options.
“I’m always looking at other options because you never know when you’re going to get injuries, suspensions and when you’re going to have to call people into your squad.
“So yeah, I got a lot of text messages when Ollie got that hat-trick and it was good to see because obviously he’s a big talent.
“He was in some of my earlier squads.He’s sort of drifted a little bit over the last five years but if he can find a home and settle down and play well week in week out, then that will be good for us.”