SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has confirmed that he is interested in calling up former England defender Steven Caulker for Scotland, with the national team manager hoping to travel to Turkey to watch him play in person.
Caulker, who was capped by England in a friendly against Sweden in 2012, has made it clear to Scotland assistant Steven Reid that he would like to be considered, and Clarke will try to run the rule over the former Dundee defender as he stars for current club Alanyaspor.
The 27-year-old, who started his career at Tottenham Hotspur before going on to play for Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and Liverpool, has overcome issues with alcohol and gambling to get his career back on track. And with centre-back options thin on the ground for Scotland, Clarke is open to giving Caulker – who qualifies for Scotland through his gran - a chance to prove himself worthy of a call-up.
READ MORE: Watch: All goals and extended highlights from Scotland 6-0 San Marino at Hampden
“I’ll get one or two people to track him down and see if the interest is a bit more than what’s been said in the paper,” Clarke said. “Then we’ll try get someone across to watch him – if I can get over there myself I will.
“I noticed he didn’t play the last game, so I’ll have to find out why. I think it’s difficult (for the next international window) as he’s changing nationality. It takes a little bit more time.
“It’s something I need to have a chat with the administrators about in the next two or three days.”
Clarke was pleased by the way his team set about their task against San Marino on Sunday night, and while he knows that a win over the group’s whipping boys was expected, he is hoping that the manner of the 6-0 victory can at least change the mood music around the national team a little.
He believes he is slowly getting to grips with the transition from club management to international football, and he hopes that wins in the next two matches against Cyprus and Kazakhstan will put a further spring in his players’ step going into the Euro 2020 play-off in March.
“I don’t smile – I’m miserable all the time,” he said. “But for the players, I want them to come and enjoy playing for their country. I don’t want it to be an ordeal. That was a good result for us.
“It’s different to club football and it’s going to take me some time to adjust. This week in particular, being the short seven-day week with a long trip to Moscow, was logistically trickier than anything I’ve maybe come across before.
“I’ve got to learn quickly because you guys are not going to give me a long time. I’m going to enjoy the result a little but it’s not going to take away from the disappointment from Thursday night [against Russia]. You can’t sugar-coat a heavy defeat but there were a lot of good things on Thursday night as well. There are things we can build on.
“We’re trying to keep positive. We need that message to go out; if we want us to qualify for Euro 2020, you have to get behind us. That’s why I was delighted with the size of the crowd [against San Marino].”
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