Kenny McLean has been over the course for Scotland before. The Norwich City midfielder has experienced campaigns successful and less so throughout his 44 caps for the national team.

McLean, 32, earned his first cap back in 2016 and has been a regular squad member from his second call-up the following year.

The ex-St Mirren and Aberdeen ace has been involved in some huge moments for Scotland - scoring in the penalty shoot-out win over Serbia to reach the Euros in 2020 or more recently netting a late winner against Norway in the remarkable turnaround in Oslo last year.

Steve Clarke would dearly love for McLean to pop up with another vital contribution this month against Croatia or Portugal to end a dismal run of one win in the last 14 outings.

It's the worst run McLean has endured for the national team, but, perhaps is clouded by the different standard of opposition now than in recent campaigns.

On what will be required to take a result against Portugal on Saturday, McLean said: "I think finding that wee bit more quality at times in the game.

"We've gone well to get to this level but we don't want to stop there. We want to keep improving and I think playing these games and these tough opponents, that's what you need to do.

"You need to keep improving and I think we will keep improving coming up against this opposition. I think we'll learn more from some of these defeats than going and playing lesser nations that we've done in the past, to be honest.

"I think it is about evolving and trying to get better. We obviously know that small mistakes and small errors do lead to goals at this level. Maybe we'd get away with that in the lower pots but it's not the case.

"We need to really dust up on that and going forward we need to carry a bit more of a threat and punish teams more. We had a lot of chances against Poland and we didn't really punish them at the right times and I think that was the main one in that game. We had big chances at big moments that we didn't take. So both ends of the pitch, both boxes we need to obviously improve.

"But as I say I think sometimes you can learn more from these defeats than going and playing against lesser nations."

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Scotland coach John Carver suggested the national team might need to struggle in the short-term to taste success again in the future, and McLean agrees.

"That's the plan," he said of improving, learning and adapting from losses. "That's what we need to keep doing. Again regardless of me being older or younger lads in the squad, everybody needs to keep improving and keep doing the right things. Keep taking on the messages from the managers and the coaches because that's the only way we're going to get better.

"As I say, nobody wants to be losing games but you can definitely take stuff from the games that you're losing as well as the games that you're winning.

"There has been some good stuff, but we don't want to say it's been good because we've not been winning games. That's what it's all about.

"It's all about winning games but we want to do it playing the right way as well and we're trying to do that."

Despite the difficult run of results for Scotland, McLean is unwavering in his belief in himself or his team-mates moving forward. 

"I think it [belief] has to be [still there]. I don't think you can come away without having belief in what you're doing.

"You do so much at your club and you work your nuts off to be honest to be in this position, so I don't think you can work that hard and then come away from here and not have belief.

"The manager has put his belief in you by choosing you to be here, so I think we need to take confidence from that to start with and then when we come away we need to get together as a group and do a bit more I suppose because as I say we really want to turn results around.

"But that's going to start on the training pitch and working as hard as we can and doing everything that's asked of us."

If Scotland are to achieve a result in the Nations League then they will have to do so without a number of key players all over the pitch.

John McGinn, Scott McKenna and Angus Gunn miss out through injury with Callum McGregor having retired from international duty.

McLean, though, is certain there is more than enough character in the squad even in the absence of some big personalities.

"I don't think so," he responded on whether those missing out could have an throughout the camp, beyond simply on a matchday. "I think we've got enough personality, enough quality, enough character here.

"When the new boys come in, yeah obviously the first day is going to be a bit different in lads settling in but it's an easy squad to come and settle into and these lads, they're here on merit, they've worked hard to get here so they're going to come away and they're going to enjoy themselves and try and impress.

"So again it's not going to be a case of missing a couple of players and thinking 'I wish he was here', it's not like that at all. It's about helping the lads that are coming in and encouraging them to do what they're doing back at their club and what got them here."