Steve Clarke to launch hunt for goalkeeping cover after Scotland lose to Iceland
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke will launch an immediate hunt for goalkeeping cover after Cieran Slicker was thrust into a difficult debut in a 3-1 Hampden defeat by Iceland.
The 22-year-old was brought on in the seventh minute after Angus Gunn suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury, and after the more experienced substitute Robby McCrorie had suffered a thigh injury in the warm-up.
The Ipswich goalkeeper conceded almost immediately, after giving the ball away, and never really recovered. He struggled with his kicking and handling and was blocked on the line as a Lewis Ferguson own goal gave Iceland the lead again just before the break, after John Souttar had headed an equaliser.
Slicker, who only has six first-team appearances in his club career, got two hands to a header but conceded again just after the break.
Scotland now face Liechtenstein in Vaduz in another friendly on Monday and Clarke will look for options with the only other fit goalkeeper in the camp being 18-year-old Callan McKenna of Bournemouth, who was brought in for training experience in midweek.
'A difficult night. We didn't have the best of starts. You lose your number two goalkeeper in the warm-up and then two minutes into the game your number one gets injured as well,' Clarke said.
'So, a tough night. I feel a little bit for young Cieran. I'll sit with him over the next couple of days and we'll have a little chat about it.'
Clarke was already without Craig Gordon, Liam Kelly and Zander Clark through injury and had warned over the lack of depth in the goalkeeping department when he named the squad.
'We'll have a little scout around and see if anybody's not on the beach and available to come,' he said.
'Options are not exactly jumping off the page at me.'
Slicker could need to play in Vaduz unless an experienced option presents itself over the weekend.
'We'll see how he reacts, how he is overnight, how he is in training on Saturday or Sunday, before we travel and make a decision from there,' Clarke said.
When asked how he could lift Slicker, Clarke said: 'Just by reassurance, that he probably went in when it was too early. He wasn't quite ready for it. That's not his fault. That's the circumstances that dictated that.
'We'll try and support him as much as we can and, listen, he'll get over it. Goalkeepers are a resilient bunch.
'He's good around the squad, he's comfortable. Like I said, probably an opportunity that came a little bit too early for him but we'll be there to support him and help him.'
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