Steve Clarke 'pleased' with Adams amid major Carver update
The national team put Liechtenstein to the sword in a 4-0 friendly victory, bouncing back from a 3-1 defeat to Iceland at Hampden last time out.
Speaking post-match, Clarke reflected on the emphatic win, explaining how Sunday night's Nations League final proved how Scotland can still compete at the elite level: "I know my players, I trust my players... It's nice to finish this camp with a nice win," he told BBC.
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"Most teams will come here and win against Liechtenstein, but not many come here and score four goals.
"It's still a disappointing camp because we didn't play as we can play in the home game at Hampden.
"I'm certainly going to carry that into August. There was a little bit of hurt and anger in the dressing room, I think you saw that in the first 20 to 25 minutes when the players were really on it.
"If you look at the Nations League final between Portugal and Spain, in recent times, this Scotland team has shown how competitive it can be against that type of team.
"So, you look at the two best teams in Europe competing in a final, we can compete."
Forward Adams' display was perhaps his finest in dark blue. A perfect hat-trick, combined with a fine assist for strike partner George Hirst, meant the Torino man grabbed the headlines.
Despite making several substitutions throughout the 90, Clarke left a hungry Adams on: "I'm really pleased for Che," he added.
"We know what Che can bring. He's been with us for a couple of years now. He's a top-quality striker.
"I left him on because I knew he would be desperate for a hat-trick."
Question marks have hung over the future of Clarke's long-term lieutenant, Carver, for some time. The 60-year-old joined the Scotland set up in 2020 but recently took up a role with Polish Ekstraklasa outfit Lechia Gdansk, whom he successfully helped avoid the drop to the second-tier last season.
"I think the wave goodbye to the crowd was a giveaway," admitted Clarke post-match.
"The thing with John was that when I approached him to come and help us, I didn't think he'd be here for five years because he's a talented coach. We'll miss him, we'll have to look to replace him, and that'll be my job over the summer. We wish him every success."
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It's now a case of three strikers with a reasonable chance of leading the line next time out against Denmark – Adams, Hirst or Lyndon Dykes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The first-named, though, surely remains in pole position having significantly improved his goal ratio statistics, which, before kick-off, stood at one in his last 19 international appearances. This record is now a slightly more respectable four in 20. It was a better start for Scotland than on Friday, when they lost goalkeeper Angus Gunn to injury in the opening minutes. Here they started like a team wishing to address some issues. Adams thrashed in the opener after four minutes following a corner that was won by Hirst. Miller's miscued effort when the ball was partially cleared landed at Adams' feet from a deflection and he rifled a shot into the goal with a venom that spoke of some pent-up anger. 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