Steve Clarke points to former Celtic star in what could have been Scotland tale as he offers no Dutch excuses

Steve Clarke reckons Netherlands vs Scotland could have had a whole different outcome had former Celtic star Ryan Christie netted in the first half.

A painful 4-0 friendly loss was inflicted upon the visitors in Amsterdam after a controlled first hour. The game was at 0-0 when a cross into the box found Bournemouth midfielder Christie, but his header was turned onto the bar. The midfielder who played 151 times for Celtic before moving to Bournemouth missed a chance in the second half while Lawrence Shankland also struck the crossbar.

Tijani Reijnders had put the hosts up with a terrific first half strike but late collapse allowed Georginio Wijnaldum, Wout Weghorst and Donyell Mallen all to score in a brutal lesson ahead of Euro 2024. Clarke wonders what may have been had the first goal gone his side's way but he refuses to offer up defeat excuses. Northern Ireland come next in a Hampden friendly on March 26th.

Clarke said: “There was a loss of composure on the pitch and suddenly the game opened up and it was too open and that didn’t suit us.

The Dutch have some fantastic players and they started to open us up which is something we have to look at. Obviously we conceded a poor second goal and then we didn’t handle the rest of the game very well.

“We had the same amount of shots (13) as the Netherlands. They were clinical, we weren’t clinical enough. That’s something we can work on. If we get the 1-0 with Ryan Christie's header it can be a totally different night but there is not point talking about it we have to go on the pitch and do it. We will learn our lessons and move forward."