Steve Clarke admits Scotland have to improve “in every department” after exiting Euro 2020 with a 3-1 defeat to Croatia on Tuesday night.
Following a 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic in their opening Group D game at Hampden Park and a goalless draw against England at Wembley, the Scots returned to Glasgow needing any kind of win to take them into the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in their history.
There was belief among the Tartan Army at the interval at the national stadium when an opener by Nikola Vlasic after 17 minutes for the Croats had been cancelled out by a Callum McGregor strike just before the break.
However, it was to be no night of glory for Scotland, playing in their first major tournament in 23 years, as second-half goals from captain Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic clinched a deserved win for the 2018 World Cup runners-up.
Clarke’s side finished bottom of the section with just one point and no goals from strikers Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams and Kevin Nisbet but the head coach insists improvement is required all over the pitch, although he insists progress has been made during his tenure.
The former West Brom and Kilmarnock boss said: “When you look across the tournament we certainly had enough shots, we created enough chances.
“It is something that we have to work on.
“But the players will get better and better at it.
“Lyndon’s a relatively new international player, Che Adams is the same, so we can improve on it.
“Kevin Nisbet will get better the more he is involved and we have got players who can score goals from midfield as Callum showed.
“Listen, we have to get better at everything, we also conceded a number of goals in the tournament that I think were preventable.
Our UEFA EURO 2020 journey comes to an end.
Your support throughout the tournament has been truly incredible. We cannot say it enough: thank you.#EURO2020 | #SCO pic.twitter.com/rp98z21tyy
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 22, 2021
“We have to get better in every department.
“But we have improved a lot over the two years I have been head coach, that’s my belief.
“Other people might disagree but I think we have improved a lot and what we have to do is we have to keep improving.
“We have to keep getting better and better and make sure we don’t have to wait so long before we qualify for the next tournament.”
