Exclusive:Scotland given ‘open mind’ reminder vs Brazil as Steve Clarke's decision on Rangers man labelled 'strange'

Steve Clarke’s men head to Miami for their final Group C fixture at the tournament on Wednesday night knowing that a win against Brazil will guarantee them a spot in the last 32 stage for the first time in the nation’s history. A draw or even a narrow defeat could even also see them seal a spot as one of the best third-placed teams.

Despite the a narrow 1-0 defeat to Morocco in Foxborough last week, Scotland have already sealed third place in the group thanks to win over Haiti in their opening game. On the cusp of making the knockouts at the tournament in North America, former Scotland captain Colin Hendry believes the team have a real opportunity to do what the France 98 team he captained couldn’t quite manage, and get the result they need against five time champions.

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“The one thing we don't want is the same start against Morocco,” Hendry exclusively told The Scotsman. “Brazil are on four points. So they're through. Are they going to rotate their squad a wee bit? They'll be wanting to win the group as well because the winners of each group go through, and they'll be up against lesser opposition come the playoffs. If we can hold Brazil for long enough, they've got some really exciting footballers, but they're not the Brazil that we played against, or in years gone by.

“I just think they'll go into it with an open mind, hoping that something develops in the game where we can score. I don't think the Brazil team is anything like the Brazil team that we played [at France 98], if I'm being honest. But that said, I think the Morocco side that played Scotland the other night was a better Morocco team than what we played. A draw would be a great result.

“We get beat by Morocco 1-0, we get beat 1-0 by Brazil. Does that see us through? I know it's very negative, but you've got to cater for all the different results that can throw up. It might be a case that might be enough. I think everybody said we had to beat Haiti, which we did.”

Hendry admits that while he understood the need to be more conservative against Morocco last week, he couldn’t quite fathom why Rangers hitman Lawrence Shankland lost his place in the starting XI. The 30-year-old striker was paired with Che Adams for the opening game against Haiti, but was relegated to the substitute’s bench last week.

With Scotland chasing the game in the second half, head coach Steve Clarke opted to bring fellow strikers Lyndon Dykes and Ross Stewart on ahead of him in a decision that was questioned by a section of the Tartan Army fanbase - and former captain Hendry admits he was a little perplexed by the decision not to play him, and would like to see him return vs Brazil.

“I can only think that he picked up a bit of an injury or something,” Hendry told BestBettingSites.co.uk. “Because you've got three strikers out there and he's the one that you'd expect any goals to come from. So he's got to be on the field of play. But yes, you start with Che Adams, you bring on Lyndon Dykes, and you've got Ross Stewart there as well, but we have this oddity in relation to Lawrence Shankland.

“I can only maybe assume that he possibly picked up a bit of an injury and didn't risk him. I don't know, but we probably won't ever find that out. But it was strange not seeing Lawrence Shankland on the pitch, I've got to be honest.”