Steve Clarke unaware of Scotland's Nations League near miss as he makes admission over Ben Doak substitution

Scotland boss Steve Clarke was left unaware of his team's near miss in qualifying for the Nations League finals as he admitted he should have brought on Ben Doak sooner.

Clarke's side needed to beat Ukraine by four goals in order to leapfrog their opponents and qualify for next summer's finals in the Netherlands.

Scotland were 2-0 up at half-time through goals from John McGinn and Lyndon Dykes, but Ukraine pulled one back after the break through Artem Dovbyk.

Clarke then introduced Doak, the 17-year-old Liverpool forward, with 20 minutes remaining, but Scotland were unable to find the three goals they needed to qualify.

Clarke admitted that he should have brought on Doak sooner, and that the teenager could have made a bigger impact on the game.

"I should have put Ben Doak on earlier," Clarke said. "He's a special talent and he could have made a difference.

"But I'm not going to blame the players. They gave everything they had and we just came up short.

"We're disappointed not to qualify for the finals, but we'll learn from this experience and come back stronger."

Scotland will now turn their attention to the Euro 2024 qualifiers, which begin in March.

Clarke's side have been drawn in Group B alongside Spain, Norway, Cyprus, and Georgia.

Scotland will be hoping to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the 1998 World Cup.