Steve Clarke believes that the collective willingness of his star players to appear and face Iceland and Liechtenstein in friendly competitions at the end of the season, emphasizes the dedication and harmony in his Scotland team.
The head coach called a 25-man team on May 19 and there were no recordings in the intervening period, where everyone was available for the Friday with Iceland in Hampden.
That number includes senior players such as Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay, John McGinn and Billy Gilmour, who operated on the sharp end of European football during the campaign.
“The biggest thing for me is that everyone is popping up,” Clarke said as he was standing opposite the media on Thursday. “I think that's great. At the end of a long, difficult season, many of them could have had small apologies or small problems.
“There are one or two in the camp that still comes from the end of the season of the end of the season, but they are all here and they all want to play, and that's great for me.
“Since I came here, this group of players has always said that they are so dedicated to come and perform for their country. Every time I choose a team, they all want to be here.
“One or two of them called me in this camp that were not selected, asking me to select them! But if they are not completely fit, I can't do that of course.”
In anticipation of the qualifying campaign of the World Cup, Clarke – who has seven not – has players in his team – taking the Iceland match seriously, because he wants to improve on a “not very good” record of one win of nine friendly matches.
“You know me well now, I don't really experiment too much,” he said. “I think the process with every team, especially a national team, is that there must be a cycle, there must ultimately be a turnover of players.
“People make a lot of the seven non -displaced players in the team. But you bring these young players to feel the level of the group, to understand where they should go, to be regularly selected for the national team.
“It is important to be in charge of those who have been relatively successful, not sure that my six years and to ensure that there is always a small production line of players we can trust in the future.”
Scotland team completely
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Norwich), Robby McCrorie (Kilmarnock), Cieran Slicker (Ipswich).
Defenders: Josh Doig (Sassuolo), Grant Hanley (Birmingham), Jack Hendry (Al Etiffaq), Max Johnston (Sturm Graz), Scott McKenna (Las Palmas), Nathan Patterson (Everton), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy), Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Robertar, Andy, Robertar, andy), Andy, Robertsar, Robertsar, Robertsar), Roberts. Kieran Tierney (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Connor Barron (Rangers), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), Andy Irving (West Ham), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Scott Mctominay (Napoli), Lennon Miller (Motherwell).
Forward: Che Adams (Torino), Kieron Bowie (Hibernian), Tommy Conway (Middlesbrough), George Hirst (Ipswich), James Wilson (Hearts).