Scotland have been forced to cancel a behind-closed-doors World Cup warm-up match against Norway, with the Norwegian FA confirming the decision was made 'due to injuries'.
World Cup preparations hit by fitness concerns
Steve Clarke's side are set to begin their World Cup campaign on Sunday June 14 against Haiti, followed by group stage matches against Morocco and Brazil. The team appeared to be in good form after a convincing 4-0 friendly victory over Bolivia on Saturday, with goals from Lawrence Shankland, Scott McTominay, and a brace from Che Adams.
However, concerns have emerged within the squad, leading to the cancellation of the planned training match against Norway. Morten Morisbak Skjonsberg, media manager for the Norwegian FA, stated: 'It is a poorly-kept secret that we were supposed to play a training match against Scotland on Monday. Today we learned that Scotland unfortunately had to withdraw from the agreement due to injuries.'
Norway adjust plans
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken commented ahead of their own friendly against Morocco: 'The idea of playing Scotland was that we could get some minutes in the legs of the guys who don't play in the Morocco game. The cancellation means I will make more changes in our game against Morocco.'
The BBC has reported that the issues are 'a couple of minor fitness concerns' within the Scotland squad. Despite this setback, Clarke remained upbeat after the Bolivia victory, which took place in New Jersey.
Clarke positive despite setback
'For once I got everything I asked for – no injuries, a performance and a good result,' Clarke told BBC Scotland. 'We spoke a lot this week about being more clinical, and yeah, nice. Front two were good. To be fair, the whole team were good first half. The two strikers complemented each other well.'
Looking ahead to the tournament, Clarke added: 'As we get to this stage, we're as well prepared as we can be. Next week is a different ball game – it's the World Cup, Haiti are a really good side. They beat NZ 4-0; England only managed to beat them 1-0 today. We understand the type of game we're going to get against Haiti, it's up to us to put on a performance and play the way we need to play to get the result.'
When asked if he had settled on his starting XI for the Haiti match, Clarke said: 'No. I've got some decisions to make. The starting XI becomes a fixation, but this is a tournament for your finishing XI. It's going to be great. We've waited a long time for this. The only thing I keep reminding myself is try to enjoy the moments.'
