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World Cup qualifying: Scotland v Belarus

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 12 October Time: 19:45 BST

Steve Clarke admits he didn’t expect to “last this long” as Scotland boss, but is “greedy for more” as his side target a first men’s World Cup since 1998.

The 62-year-old will manage his country for the 72nd time against Belarus at Hampden on Sunday – live on the BBC – eclipsing the previous record mark set by Craig Brown.

Victory over the pointless visitors would take Scotland top of their World Cup qualifying group. Leaders Denmark host Greece later on Sunday, with defeat for the latter guaranteeing a play-off place for Clarke’s side should they beat Belarus.

Getting three points against a side they overcame 2-0 in Hungary last month is the main focus for Clarke, but he conceded the milestone is something he is “proud” of.

“I’d be daft if I wasn’t because I’m the first guy to reach that amount of games,” he said. “That’s nice for me, but it’s a little personal thing.

Clarke succeeded Alex McLeish as national team boss in 2019 and has led Scotland to two European Championships.

Having narrowly missed out on the 1990 World Cup as a player, and lost to Ukraine in the play-offs for the last finals as Scotland head coach, he is determined to add the global showpiece to his list of career achievements.

“The brief was to qualify for tournaments,” he added when reflecting on his time in charge. “We’ve done that twice and we want to do it again because we’re all greedy.

“Did I think I’d last this long? Probably not, but here we are.

“We’ve put together a strong nucleus that we’ve managed to build upon. That’s what creates the environment because they know each other – and good results help.

After recovering from a different first hour or so to come back and beat Greece 3-1 on Thursday, Scotland will make changes for what will be a different kind of test.

Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie are suspended and Aaron Hickey injured, meaning Billy Gilmour, Lyndon Dykes and Tony Ralston could be in line to start.

Clarke expects Belarus to sit deep at Hampden and make it difficult for Scotland, but said the onus was on his side.

“In my time here, we’ve done well against the so-called lesser teams and it’s very important you get the points off them,” he said.

“They’ll come here and be organised, they’ll be difficult to break down and until you break them down, it’ll be a long night.

“It’s up to us to approach the game properly, which we will. It’s up to us to create enough chances to get the crowd excited, which we hopefully will.”

Clarke also insisted he was not thinking beyond Sunday’s match, with a trip to Greece and a home match against the Danes following next month.

“All I ever try to emphasise is that if you want to qualify, these are the games you have to win,” he said. “If you drop points to the teams ranked below you, it makes qualification difficult.

“No room for complacency. At no point am I looking too far ahead.

World Cup qualifying: Scotland v Belarus

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 12 October Time: 19:45 BST

Steve Clarke admits he didn’t expect to “last this long” as Scotland boss, but is “greedy for more” as his side target a first men’s World Cup since 1998.

The 62-year-old will manage his country for the 72nd time against Belarus at Hampden on Sunday – live on the BBC – eclipsing the previous record mark set by Craig Brown.

Victory over the pointless visitors would take Scotland top of their World Cup qualifying group. Leaders Denmark host Greece later on Sunday, with defeat for the latter guaranteeing a play-off place for Clarke’s side should they beat Belarus.

Getting three points against a side they overcame 2-0 in Hungary last month is the main focus for Clarke, but he conceded the milestone is something he is “proud” of.

“I’d be daft if I wasn’t because I’m the first guy to reach that amount of games,” he said. “That’s nice for me, but it’s a little personal thing.

Clarke succeeded Alex McLeish as national team boss in 2019 and has led Scotland to two European Championships.

Having narrowly missed out on the 1990 World Cup as a player, and lost to Ukraine in the play-offs for the last finals as Scotland head coach, he is determined to add the global showpiece to his list of career achievements.

“The brief was to qualify for tournaments,” he added when reflecting on his time in charge. “We’ve done that twice and we want to do it again because we’re all greedy.

“Did I think I’d last this long? Probably not, but here we are.

“We’ve put together a strong nucleus that we’ve managed to build upon. That’s what creates the environment because they know each other – and good results help.

After recovering from a different first hour or so to come back and beat Greece 3-1 on Thursday, Scotland will make changes for what will be a different kind of test.

Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie are suspended and Aaron Hickey injured, meaning Billy Gilmour, Lyndon Dykes and Tony Ralston could be in line to start.

Clarke expects Belarus to sit deep at Hampden and make it difficult for Scotland, but said the onus was on his side.

“In my time here, we’ve done well against the so-called lesser teams and it’s very important you get the points off them,” he said.

“They’ll come here and be organised, they’ll be difficult to break down and until you break them down, it’ll be a long night.

“It’s up to us to approach the game properly, which we will. It’s up to us to create enough chances to get the crowd excited, which we hopefully will.”

Clarke also insisted he was not thinking beyond Sunday’s match, with a trip to Greece and a home match against the Danes following next month.

“All I ever try to emphasise is that if you want to qualify, these are the games you have to win,” he said. “If you drop points to the teams ranked below you, it makes qualification difficult.

“No room for complacency. At no point am I looking too far ahead.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at the Wuhan Open came to an end as Jessica Pegula rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set to win and set up a final against Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka had won in Wuhan in each of the past three tournaments and looked set to reach the final again when she broke twice to take command of the third set.

But 31-year-old Pegula dug deep to win four games in a row.

Sabalenka survived two match points to force a tie-break but had nothing left as American Pegula won 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Earlier, French Open champion Gauff put in a stuttering performance but secured victory over Jasmine Paolini to reach the final.

The 21-year-old beat the Italian seventh seed 6-4 6-3 in a match featuring 11 breaks of serve in a row to reach her first final since her win at Roland Garros in June.

Gauff may have won in straight sets but struggled on serve, being broken five times and serving seven double faults.

“I’m really happy with how I played today. It was tough, especially playing on the serve, but I did what I needed to do to get through,” Gauff said.

“Sabalenka and Pegula are great players, and I’ve lost to them both before. But overall, I’m just going to focus on my side of the court and try to control the things I can control.”

World number one Aryna Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at the Wuhan Open came to an end as Jessica Pegula rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set to win and set up a final against Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka had won in Wuhan in each of the past three tournaments and looked set to reach the final again when she broke twice to take command of the third set.

But 31-year-old Pegula dug deep to win four games in a row.

Sabalenka survived two match points to force a tie-break but had nothing left as American Pegula won 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Earlier, French Open champion Gauff put in a stuttering performance but secured victory over Jasmine Paolini to reach the final.

The 21-year-old beat the Italian seventh seed 6-4 6-3 in a match featuring 11 breaks of serve in a row to reach her first final since her win at Roland Garros in June.

Gauff may have won in straight sets but struggled on serve, being broken five times and serving seven double faults.

“I’m really happy with how I played today. It was tough, especially playing on the serve, but I did what I needed to do to get through,” Gauff said.

“Sabalenka and Pegula are great players, and I’ve lost to them both before. But overall, I’m just going to focus on my side of the court and try to control the things I can control.”