Scotland manager Steve Clarke says he has an enviable selection dilemma ahead of his side’s World Cup opener against Haiti after another impressive warm-up win.
A week after beating Curacao 4-1 at Hampden Park, Scotland produced another convincing display with a 4-0 win over Bolivia in New Jersey.
Lawrence Shankland continued his strong form by opening the scoring after five minutes with a well-taken header before turning provider for Scott McTominay, who doubled the lead midway through the first half.
Che Adams then struck twice before the interval as Scotland took complete control against the South Americans.
With the result secured by half-time, Clarke made a host of changes after the break, giving valuable minutes to almost every member of his squad.
Clarke welcomes selection headache
The Scotland boss admitted competition for places is giving him difficult decisions to make, but described them as the sort of problems every manager wants.
“Fantastic problems,” Clarke said.
“The first half was really good and then when I looked at the bench, I knew the players coming on would maintain the level.
“When you make so many substitutions, naturally the rhythm changes a little, but the players came on with the focus of keeping a clean sheet.
“It’s been a while since we’ve managed one, so that was pleasing.
“I spoke before the game about what I wanted – no injuries, a good performance and a positive result.
“You don’t often get everything you ask for, so I’m pleased.”
Goals provide encouragement before World Cup
Scotland have often faced criticism for a lack of goals in recent years, but eight goals across their last two matches have offered encouragement ahead of a demanding group containing Haiti, Morocco and Brazil.
Clarke believes the most important aspect has been the number of opportunities his side are creating.
“People often say we don’t score enough goals, but we’ve scored four in back-to-back games now,” he said.
“The key thing is creating chances and we did that well again.
“If you create opportunities, we’ve got players in the team who are capable of finishing them.”
New system still a work in progress
Scotland have recently switched to a 4-4-2 formation featuring two central strikers, and Clarke feels there is still room for improvement despite the encouraging results.
“We’ve spent some time this week working on the shape of the team,” he said.
“The 4-4-2 is something we’ve only moved towards recently and there’s still work to be done.
“There were some really good moments, but there were also areas where we can improve. We’ll continue working on that this week and hopefully produce another strong performance next weekend.”
Scotland begin their World Cup campaign against Haiti before further Group F fixtures against Morocco and five-time champions Brazil.
A place in the knockout stages would be a historic achievement, with Scotland yet to progress beyond the group phase at a World Cup.
