Scotland boss Steve Clarke reveals next steps for Harvey Barnes & Elliot Anderson’s country call-up conundrum
STEVE CLARKE insists he will not beg Elliot Anderson or Harvey Barnes to turn down England for Scotland.
SunSport exclusively revealed yesterday that Newcastle midfielder Anderson had concerns about signing a Dark Blue Jersey.
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The English-born 20-year-old withdrew from the double game against Cyprus and England to reconsider his international status Future.
Clarke also reached out to his Toon teammate Barnes.
It has been reported that he wants to play for Scotland at Clarke’s Men on the edge of Euro Qualification 2024.
But the Scotland coach did not want to contact the attacker and said: “No, that one next The call doesn’t come from me.
“I’m not saying he has to call me, but I still have a few weeks after this camp fishing and I’ll be playing some golf and getting ready for the games in October.
“I won’t say I didn’t talk to Harvey like I did. But that was a long time ago. I haven’t heard from him since.”
Clarke doesn’t lose sleep about Anderson’s about-face, adding:
“Well, if you look at what we have in the squad…
“If we can find people who want to improve us and really, really, really want to be with us, then we can improve the squad.
“If there are people who are a little doubtful and not entirely sure, I’m not going to call and try to convince someone to come.
“We don’t have to do that. We’re in a great position with the people we have here.
“I want a Che Adams, I want a Lyndon Dykes, on board from the minute they walked in the door, on board when everyone was there.
“They understand what it means to everyone in the group.
“You have to talk to people and ask: ‘Can we improve the squad?’ Can the squad get better?’.
“If this player is doing better and is committed to what we want to achieve as a nation, then it’s good to get him on board.”
Clarke believes playing for Scotland is now a more attractive proposition for qualified players, with the team close to qualification Euro.
He added: “The more successful you are, the more people want to play for you.”
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“But there are a lot of Scottish boys who aren’t in the squad and want to play for me too.
“But right now I understand why you’re asking the questions about Harvey and Elliot, but in my head it’s a bit disrespectful to the people who put us in this position.”
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