'For once': Steve Clarke assesses Scotland display and admits he has big World Cup decisions to make

The Scots put on an impressive performance in New Jersey - especially in the first half - against a poor Bolivian team who will not be at the World Cup. Che Adams scored twice, while there were goals for his strike partner Lawrence Shankland and Scott McTominay.

After losing midfielder Billy Gilmour to injury, Clarke was pleased not to pick up any further injuries and now has to settle on his starting XI for next weekend’s match against the Haitians in Boston.

"For once I got everything I asked for - no injuries, a performance and a good result,” said Clarke. "We spoke a lot this week about being more clinical, and yeah, nice. The front two were good. To be fair, the whole team were good first half. The two strikers complemented each other well.

"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 New Zealand 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."

Clarke’s dilemmas for Haiti

Asked if he knows his starting XI for Haiti, Clarke responded. "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."

Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland, who opened the scoring against Bolivia, reckons that whoever starts against Haiti will be ready for the match.

"Good performance from everybody, important to get a win going into the tournament in our last game before the real stuff starts,” said Shankland. “A lot of good defensive stuff as well, and getting used to the conditions too and with a good performance, we can be pleased.

"Today was our [alongside Che Adams] first time together from the start, and it worked well at times, both on the score sheet with Che getting a double, so we can be pleased.

"All you can do when you get the opportunity is put your best foot forward and give the manager a decision to make when he's picking his team. We've got a really good group, a lot of togetherness in there, no matter who is picked, we will all be ready."

Scotland defender Anthony Ralston came on as a late substitute and admitted the squad are desperate to be the first to progress out of a World Cup group for the first time.

"The boys were excellent,” said the Celtic defender. “Since we arrived in America, we've put the work in and you saw that today. The goals and the clean sheet, all round very positive. We've had a bit of time to work in the sun and that was a great test before next weekend.

"The gaffer has said it's going to be a squad tournament. It's a great group of lads and we want to do ourselves proud over here. As a collective, to get out of the group is our aim. I don't see why we can't."