SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke last night called on the Scottish government and UEFA to allow the Tartan Army in to the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel at Hampden next month.

The national side was held to a 1-1 draw by the opponents they will take on in the semi-final in Glasgow in October in their opening Nations League Group B2 fixture inside an empty stadium deu to the coronavirus pandemic.

Clarke believes having supporters to cheer on Andy Robertson and his team mates will make a huge difference to their chances of winning that fixture and going through to the final against either Norway or Serbia away.

He is hopeful that Holyrood - who are set to hold test events at football matches in this country later this month - and European football's governing body will allow some fans through the turnstiles on October 8.

“It was very surreal," he said. "From the moment we left the hotel, the players were on one bus and the staff were on a different bus.

“We drove into the stadium and there was almost nobody here. Then during the game it has a little bit of a training ground feel to it.

“I’d like to think there will be a crowd at the play-off, some sort of crowd inside the stadium to help the atmosphere.

“I think it would be helpful for any game as I’m a big believer that football is a game for spectators. You need the fans there to push you on.

“Maybe in the second half tonight we sat in a little too deep because we were so comfortable in the game defensively. We went to sleep on a throw-in and got heavily punished for it.

“I think if the fans are in here in the stadium they’re shouting and pushing you up the pitch and driving you on. So yeah, it would make a difference.”

Clarke switched to a back three in order to get both Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson into his side and was pleased with how his defence functioned.

“I am definitely going to persevere with it, whether or not we do it in the next game," he said. "Ideally we’d like to have two systems so we can play or we can change in-game because if you get stuck with only one system you can become a little bit one dimensional.

"So I want to try and work on what we’ve got, whether it’s the right thing for the next game I will look at the Czech Republic now and decide whether it’s best to go with five at the back or three or whatever you want to call it, or whether it’s best to go back to a four. We’ll make a decision obviously before we play them.”