‘Keep calm and carry on’ is Steve Clarke’s message as the Scotland camp deals with the impact of John Fleck’s positive coronavirus test.
Sheffield United midfielder Fleck, 29, has been forced into quarantine 13 days before Euro 2020 kicks off after returning a positive test at Scotland’s pre-tournament training camp in Alicante.
Fleck must now isolate and will miss Wednesday’s warm-up friendly against the Netherlands in Portugal.
The Scottish Football Association says the rest of the squad recorded negative results after being retested.
But Clarke has moved quickly to assure players and supporters alike that there is no need to panic on the eve of the men’s side’s first major tournament in over two decades.
He said: “John will be in isolation until he returns a couple of negative tests.
“We will be testing every day… for everyone (else) it is just a case of carrying on as normal and continuing the good work.
“The thing I don’t want to do is (let) this isolated case overshadow the good work we have done.
“The training has been fantastic. We are in a great place.”
‘No point stressing’
When asked if he had formulated contingency plans if coronavirus was to wreak more havoc among his squad, Clarke insisted calmness must prevail in the camp.
“It’s just about keeping everything in perspective,” he said. “It’s important that we think about what we have done in training and worked on and take that into the first friendly game.
“We have to be a little bit reactive to certain situations, there is no point stressing about it.
“Certain situations you cannot control and if you cannot control them I have always been told to try to look after what you can control.
“We can control the lads in training, preparation for match and hopefully put in a good performance tomorrow against the Dutch.”
Challenges ahead
Wednesday’s match against Holland is the first of a pre-tournament double-header, with Luxembourg next up on Sunday.
Clarke reckons the differing reputations of Scotland’s opponents will serve the players well for the group campaign, where the Dark Blues take on Czech Republic, England and Croatia.
He said: “We wanted one game that would challenge us, and certainly the Dutch game will challenge us.
⏪ Last time we played at the Estádio Algarve…
We return tomorrow night to take on the Netherlands.
➡️ Match preview: https://t.co/jyI0OFkzGy pic.twitter.com/ynJnhntfIa
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 1, 2021
“The Luxembourg game will challenge us in a different way.
“The way the Dutch play is not dissimilar to the way that certainly England play, and maybe a little bit like Croatia as pot one teams.
“It should be a good work-out for us in terms of the friendly and a good workout for us in terms of the games coming up in the tournament.”
Learning process
While Clarke aims to use the friendlies to secure in-game minutes for his players, he insists the extended time he has them on the training pitch will be just as beneficial.
“All the players for all the positions, whether they play in the friendly games or not, will hopefully understand their roles within the team,” he added. “That’s what we use their pre-camps for, to make sure everyone is ready.
“I’m actually just as happy in terms of preparation for the Euros with the time I get on the training pitch working with the players.
“You can iron out one or two little things that maybe you can then look at in the game.
“Hopefully most of them if not all of them, will get at least some minutes in the friendly games, which will stand them in good stead for the tournament.”