Craig Brown makes Scotland expectation claim as he compares Steve Clarke’s squad to his France 98’ stars

Craig Brown knows what it takes to qualify for a major tournament and the last man to guide Scotland to a World Cup finals is backing Steve Clarke’s side to end their 24-year wait by sealing a spot in Qatar.

The Scots qualified for five consecutive World Cups between 1974 and 1990 and there was an air of expectance rather than hope among the Tartan Army faithful that the nation would regularly grace the greatest tournament on earth.

That remarkable run ended in the lead up to USA 1994 but Brown restored a sense of normality four years later bt steering the country to France 98.

However, the alarming downward spiral that followed in the years to come has ensured more than two decades and five World Cups have vanished in the blink of an eye.

Expectation levels were at an all-time low after TEN successive failed qualifcation campaigns until the arrival of Steve Clarke as manager three years ago proved the start of a fresh awakening.

Scotland’s major finals exile ended as Clarke’s men booked their place in last year’s European Championships and 12 months on Scotland now stand on the cusp of reaching a first World Cup since opening France 98 against Brazil.

They must overcome two play-offs matches in the shape of Ukraine and then Wales to book their ticket to Qatar later this year.

Speaking to GlasgowWorld, Brown believes hope is reverting back to confidence again ahead of tonight’s semi-final at Hampden Park.

He said: “It’s quite amazing it’s been so long since we were at a World Cup.

“When I was in the job if you didn’t qualify - and I was the assistant when we failed to qualify in 94 - then you thought you’d killed your next of kin.

“There was an expectation back then. But then that turned to hope as more campaigns passed by without Scotland getting there.

“Now I would say it’s becoming more of an expectation again thanks to the way the team is playing.

“I’m expecting us to qualify. We have a superb manager and an outstanding team so I’m very optimistic about what’s going to happen in the next few days.

“Steve is a football manager of capability. There have been very good managers down the years who maybe just didn’t have the luck required.

“Gordon Strachan was a very good manager. Alex McLeish was a good manager. They didn’t manage to qualify but they never had the quality of squad.

“I had a better squad in the 1990s than they had - in 1998 I had three players who had just won the English Premier League with Blackburn Rovers, Colin Hendry, Billy McKinlay and Kevin Gallacher.

“This is the best group of players since then. The players coming through at the moment are at a good age and have real quality.

“Players come in cycles and we are on a good one right now. There’s fantastic quality in the team and the manager has them reading off the same hymn sheet.

“When I was Andy’s assistant with the top team I was also with the Under-21s. They did in on the cheap then!

“They did it because the fixtures always matched and the Under-21s would play the night before. Both games had to be within 100km of each other.

“So I did both jobs for a while but now the fixtures and dates are different.”

Brown is optimistic the Scots can negotiate two difficult play-off fixtures and earn their World Cup qualifcation struggles but he is also wary of the threat posed by Ukraine.

Not only does Oleksandr Petrakov have several exciting young talents at his disposal but they also have the added motivation to give their country a welcome boost and something to cheer amid the ongoing conflict between Russia.

The manager himself boasts an impressive CV which has certainly caught the eye of Brown having won the World Under-20 Championship back in 2019.

Brown admitted: “We have a tricky game here. Petrakov won the World Under-20 Championship with Ukraine three years ago.

“Now if they won that, and it’s a hard tournament to win, then if some of those players are 22-23 and not in his team it tells you the level of team he has. They’ll be very good players.

“I saw them beat Sweden at Hampden last summer when they had their talisman (Andriy) Shevchenko as the manager back then.

“Petrakov is now unbeaten in seven matches, although five of them were draws .. that’s my trick! We, of course, are unbeaten in eight. So we have two top managers against each other here.

“He has worked right through the age groups for the past 12 years - from Under-16s right up to the top team - a bit like Andy Roxburgh who won the Euro Championships with the Scotland Under-18 team.

“A lot of those guys like Paul McStay, Pat Nevin and these guys came through to the first team with him, so Petrakov knows the talent available to him. We will have a hard shift.”

“There will also be an edge to Ukraine’s performance. They are representing their country which has been so heavily victimised and they are out to prove something.

“They want to give their country a morale boost. Everyone in football will want Ukraine to win. If I wasn’t Scottish I would want them to win.”

Football in Ukraine was halted after Russia’s invasion back in February but a 21-man squad made up of home-based players has been together at a training camp in Slovenia since the start of May and have played three friendlt games against clubs teams to prepare for the play-off.

Brown admits he has real sympathy for the war-torn nation but insists the Scotland squad must put those feelings to one side as they look to close in on a spot at the Qatar finals in November.

He commented: “I have a sympathy for the country and the persecution there, but they have had three friendly games and we have to watch.

“They have played Borussia Monchengladbach, Rijeka and Empoli, three good quality club sides. You could argue they are fresh, fit and ready to play.

“They have played against themselves too. That was an old favourite of mine. I’d play old against young, or English-based players against Scottish-based players or once I even picked a good looking side to play the ugly side!

“I learned a lesson there after one of the wives caught me at the airport and asked ‘why was my husband in the ugly team!’

“I never told the players how I’d picked the teams although I must have whispered it to McCoist. Of course word got out and suddenly the wives had been informed!”

With Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney ruled out through injury, Clarke has a tough decision to make over who to start on the left side of defence.

Brown has been thrilled to seee impact thatthe former Kilmarnock boss has made since taking on the job and reckons he already has a tailor-made replacement among his squad.

He stated: “I genuinely think we have a squad with a manager who is outstanding and respected by the players.

“You saw at the weekend how good Scott McKenna is. He reminds me of David Weir. They are both intelligent guys and very humble.

“I actually remember saying to the press back in the day that David was son in law material. He phoned me later and said ‘what’s this all about?’

“But McKenna is like that. He is humble off the park but on it he has the unassuming manner of David Weir. He might be more left-sided but he has the same authority without being the type who goes out shouting the odds.

“When David said something in the dressing room he was respected, I feel McKenna has that presence too.”

*Craig Brown was speaking at the launch of the book Scotland’s Swedish Adventure: The Story of Scotland’s European Championship Debut by John Bleasdale.