Scotland Men's Football Team

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It would be a big surprise if Lawrence Shankland and Che Adams did not start up front together in Scotland's opening group game at the World Cup, according to former international striker Kenny Miller.

Striker Shankland, who has joined Rangers from Hearts this summer, scored one and provided an assist before Torino's Adams scored a double in Saturday's 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia as head coach Steve Clarke adopted a 4-4-2 formation again after the 4-1 defeat of Curacao.

"I would be very surprised - he has played that formation for these two preparation games - if he doesn't stick with it for the opener," Miller told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast.

"It makes sense and he's looked at a couple of different combinations within that.

"I think the performance on Saturday with Lawrence and Che - and the fact they were both on the scoresheet - means I would be very surprised if it wasn't those two against Haiti.

"What I will say is that there are a lot of good players in the attacking positions for Scotland. You have Lyndon Dykes, who's has been a big Steve Clarke favourite over the years, and with [George] Hirst and [Ross] Stewart coming into the squad as well, there's a lot of options.

"However, the season Lawrence has had as well, he is our best chance for goals. When chances come along, he is very clinical and he's off the back of a wonderful season."

The two friendly wins have strengthened Miller's belief that they can "make history" by becoming the first Scotland side to progress to the knock-out stages of a major tournament but believes Clarke might revert to one striker for the perceived harder tasks to come against Morocco and Brazil.

"You might see a number of formations during the course of the three group games," he added.

"He could revert to a back three/back five for the second or third game. There is a lot of flexibility within the squad."

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James McFadden feels guilty about suggesting it, but the former Scotland forward wonders whether John McGinn might find himself left out of the starting line-up in the opening World Cup game against Haiti on Saturday.

McGinn has been pivotal not only for Scotland but in helping Aston Villa finish fourth in the Premier League and win the Europa League this season.

But the 31-year-old midfielder was a substitute as Scotland eased aside Bolivia 4-0 in their final pre-tournament friendly on Saturday.

"It is a nice problem for [head coach] Steve Clarke to have," McFadden said on BBC Scotland's Sportsound. "I know we don't get carried away with friendlies, but how they performed yesterday, I think it will be as close to the team that started that game.

"The big question is John McGinn. Where does John McGinn come into it? Does John McGinn come into it?

"He's been so good, but look at the performance. The relationship between [Ryan] Christie and [Andy] Robertson I thought was outstanding.

"[Ben] Gannon-Doak and [Aaron] Hickey have this relationship as well and then you've got [Scott] McTominay and [Lewis] Ferguson who were excellent in midfield.

"[Lawrence] Shankland and [Che] Adams have to play together for me. The way the team is set up really suits having the two strikers.

"If you are going to have two strikers, without a shadow of a doubt one of them has to be Lawrence Shankland because of his all-round game, because of his finishing, but also his intelligence to play the game, whether it's with the ball, or going in challenging, being that out ball but also the trigger to press.

"I think we have to play two strikers and Shankland has to be one of them and Adams played well with him.

"He's come in for a lot of criticism, Che Adams, during his time as a Scotland striker, but I think that link-up between those two was really effective both with and without the ball.

"So often we have been reliant on McGinn getting us a goal. Now you are looking unbelievably, and I feel bad for saying it, does he start the game and, if he does, who do you leave out?"

Former Scotland full-back Callum Davidson thinks McGinn has to start.

"It is a big call that one," he said. "I agree with you on Shankland and Adams - I think they both suit each other. Shankland's really good dropping into the game and bringing other players into it and Che Adams, he stretches the game really well.

"But, for me, you have to play John McGinn. I think he's a talisman, he's a fantastic player, so I think you have to fit him in the team somewhere."

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Norway have confirmed a training match against Scotland on Monday has been cancelled because of a couple of minor fitness concerns in Steve Clarke's squad.

The closed-doors game - which was due to be played at Scotland's training camp in Charlotte - was set up to give fringe players of each team game time before the World Cup.

But Norway, who face Scotland's group opponents Morocco in a friendly in New Jersey on Sunday (20:00 BST), have been informed the bounce game is now off.

Norway manager Stale Solbakken said: "The idea of playing Scotland was that we could get some minutes in the legs of the guys who don't play in the Morocco game. The cancellation means I will make more changes in our game against Morocco."

Norwegian FA media manager Morten Morisbak Skjonsberg said: "It is a poorly-kept secret that we were supposed to play a training match against Scotland on Monday.

"Today we learned that Scotland unfortunately had to withdraw from the agreement due to injuries."

Speaking later on Sunday, Scotland head coach Steve Clarke said: "It was just going to be a training game for an hour at our training ground.

"We picked up one or two niggles last week and decided it wasn't worth the risk."

Scotland finished their preparations for their first World Cup finals in 28 years with a 4-0 win over Bolivia in New Jersey.

We asked for your thoughts and most of you are enthused by what you saw.

Thomas: I think Steve Clarke has learned from the dreadful build-up to Euro 24 and these last two games have in contrast built positivity and confidence in this team. You feel like we're going into the Haiti game with a spring in our step now. I can't wait.

Stephen: [Ben] Gannon Doak and [Scott] McTominay ooze class and the first-half performance of the whole team gives real encouragement ahead of the World Cup.

David: Gannon-Doak was unplayable. He must start. Morocco and Brazil will have been alerted to his abilities.

Jay: Why are Scotland getting over-hyped about beating a team that beat Brazil at 3000 metres?

John: Couldn't ask for more tonight. Bring it on. (Will also be in the Boston fan zone....and I was also at the Costa Rica match).

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Che Adams hopes he has cemented his place in Scotland's starting line-up for their World Cup opener against Haiti after his strike partnership with Lawrence Shankland contributed to all four goals in their final warm-up win over Bolivia.

Adams scored twice after Shankland opened the scoring then set up Scott McTominay for the second in New Jersey on Saturday.

Asked by BBC Scotland if the pair had laid down a marker for next Saturday's tournament opener against Haiti in Foxborough, the Torino striker replied "hopefully" while stressing "it is a team game" as he prepares to live out his "dream" of playing at a World Cup.

"To see things that you work on in training come off, it was a pleasure to play with him and get two goals," Adams said.

The 29-year-old thought they had responded to the encouragement by head coach Steve Clarke to be brave in their win over the South Americans - and the previous 4-1 defeat of Curacao at Hampden.

"Obviously, everyone's pulling in the right direction and just playing with belief and courage," he said.

"That's what the gaffer's told us to do and we did it again."

Scotland were not as potent after half-time in searingly-hot conditions at the Sports Illustrated Stadium amid the usual flurry of substitutions, but Adams stressed the win would mean: "Confidence going to the next game.

"It's obviously a big game that's happening next week, so we need to be ready and we need to be firing on all cylinders.

"It's always nice to score. It's always nice to win.

"The first half was especially difficult, with the weather and sun, but the boys dug deep and it got easy towards the end.

"So we just have to keep going like that and have as much confidence as we can going into the World Cup."

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Bolivia head coach Oscar Villegas says Scotland taught his young team a lesson in their 4-0 friendly defeat in New Jersey.

Steve Clarke's side were four goals to the good by half-time in their final World Cup warm-up game against a side who missed out on the finals after losing a play-off against Iraq.

"We need to improve our defensive transitions, because we faced an opponent who didn't hesitate going forward when they had the ball, was very forceful, very direct and was able to hurt us - and we couldn't find a way around in the first half," former San Jose midfielder Villegas said.

"And that's a bit of a lesson we learned in the second half: we controlled those details a little better and, as a result, we protected our goal better and also created some chances.

"But we're talking about a team that's going to play in the World Cup, that's in great form, that's physically very powerful, very strong. And that obviously teaches us something, because we, as you know, we are preparing for the next World Cup."

Bolivia finished seventh in South America's World Cup qualifying league and are ranked 77th in the world - 35 places below Scotland - but Villegas thinks his introduction of younger players will pay off in the long run.

"I would say it's a team that has been evolving these last two years," he added. "With young players, we reached the play-offs, so I think that's the way forward.

"What has allowed us to get so close to the World Cup is the young players. We have taken that risk. Having finished close to the World Cup, this next qualifying round, we are going to arrive much stronger than the previous one."

Southampton missed the expiry date on a contract extension clause for Scotland striker Ross Stewart because of the "Spygate" scandal that denied them promotion to the Premier League and the 29-year-old now has the option to join another club. (Daily Echo), external

Harvey Barnes, the 28-year-old Newcastle United winger who had talks about switching allegiance from England to Scotland, has emerged as a target for Aston Villa. (Football Insider), external

Read Sunday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Scotland head coach Steve Clarke tells BBC Scotland: "For once I got everything I asked for - no injuries, a performance and a good result.

"We spoke a lot this week about being more clinical, and yeah, nice.

"Front two were good. To be fair, the whole team were good first half. The two strikers complemented each other well.

"As we get to this stage, we're as well prepared as we can be. Next week is a different ball game - it's the World Cup, Haiti are a really good side. They beat NZ 4-0; England only managed to beat them 1-0 today.

"We understand the type of game we're going to get against Haiti, it's up to us to put on a performance and play the way we need to play to get the result."

[Do you know your starting team for Haiti?]: "No. I've got some decisions to make. The starting XI becomes a fixation, but this is a tournament for your finishing XI.

"It's going to be great. We've waited a long time for this. The only thing I keep reminding myself is try to enjoy the moments."

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Scotland defender Anthony Ralston tells BBC Scotland: "The boys were excellent.

"Since we arrived in America, we've put the work in, and you saw that today.

"The goals and the clean sheet, all round very positive.

"We've had a bit of time to work in the sun and that was a great test before next weekend.

"The gaffer has said it's going to be a squad tournament. It's a great group of lads and we want to do ourselves proud over here.

"As a collective, to get out of the group is our aim. I don't see why we can't."

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Scotland goalscorer Lawrence Shankland tells BBC Scotland: "Good performance from everybody, important to get a win going into the tournament in our last game before the real stuff starts

"A lot of good defensive stuff as well, and getting used to the conditions too and with a good performance, we can be pleased.

"Today was our [alongside Che Adams] first time together from the start, and it worked well at times, both on the score sheet with Che getting a double, so we can be pleased.

"All you can do when you get the opoortunity is put your best foot forward and give the manager a decision to make when he's picking his team.

"We've got a really good group, a lot of togetherness in there, no matter who is picked, we will all be ready."

Scotland sent out a statement before their first men's World Cup in 28 years with a scarcely-believable final friendly victory against Bolivia at a sweltering Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.

Read the match report here.

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Bolivia boss Oscar Villegas expects to win Saturday's friendly with Scotland. (National - subscription required), external

Forward Lawrence Shankland, 30, wanted a quick move from Hearts to Rangers so he would not be distracted while at the World Cup with Scotland. (Herald - subscription required), external

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