Steve Clark feeling positive ahead of first match in charge of Scotland

New Scotland manager Steve Clarke admits he and his players need to focus on being positive ahead of his first match.

Scotland sit second-bottom of their European Championship qualifying group after emerging from opening matches against Kazakhstan and San Marino with a negative goal difference.

Clarke kicks off his reign against Cyprus at Hampden on June 8 before taking on World Cup semi-finalists Belgium in Brussels three days later.

And he began accentuating the positives after announcing his first squad.

“It would be great to take six points,'' he said. “That has to be the aim. There's no point going into a game thinking you are not going to win it.

“You also have to pay respect to your opposition.

“We have to understand where we are as a national team. We are probably not in the best moment.

“But it's up to the players who are selected, and it's up to myself and my staff, to make sure we get a positive result against a Cyprus team who people maybe underestimate.

“They have some good qualities, they will be a difficult opponent for us, but it's a game that we have to look forward to with positivity and try to win the game.

“On the back of that we face the Belgians, who are currently ranked world number one. So that should be an interesting game."

• superscoreboard