Scotland vs Russia is live on Sky Sports Football on September 6; kick-off 7.45pm
Tuesday 27 August 2019 13:52, UK
Steve Clarke has given a passionate appeal for Scotland supporters to turn out in their numbers for the European Qualifiers at home to Russia and Belgium.
Scotland face a crucial double-header at Hampden Park, with both games live on Sky Sports, as they try and qualify out of Group I for Euro 2020.
They currently sit fourth, three points behind Russia in second and six behind leaders Belgium.
A crowd of just over 30,000 watched Scotland's 2-1 win over Cyprus in June, but Clarke wants that number to be much closer to the 50,000 capacity for their next two matches.
"It is two really important games for us," Clarke said. "We are going to need a big crowd. The points we get from these games are going to be crucial in the long run.
"For the Russia game [at Hampden Park], I would love it to be a full house. I'm not sure if it will be but the closer we can get to a full house, that backing could give the players an extra little bit of lift.
"We are going to be well prepared and give it everything we have got to get the points we need to stay in contention.
"Belgium are the number one team in the world and we have had first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to play against them.
"Football is a strange game and you look at the 3-0 score line [in June] and it looks like a bit of a spanking but there were moments in that game where I thought the team looked good.
"Here at Hampden, with the tartan army in full voice behind the team, that would give the players a bit extra."
Just one place separates Scotland and Russia in the world rankings, but the 2018 World Cup hosts impressed in their home tournament by reaching the last-eight and Clarke knows they can not be taken lightly.
"We are going to respect Russia but we are not going to play with any fear," he said.
"Hopefully we don't go into any game with fear, we have to believe we can get points from any game that we play in.
"The world rankings are quite close, but recently the Russian team has improved a lot.
"They've got good players, they're a good team and it will be a big challenge but we will be ready for that challenge."
