STEVE CLARKE may have just ended a 22-year wait to send Scotland to a major tournament – but the Hampden boss has already got his eyes set on the Qatar World Cup in 2022. 

The Dark Blues put in a stunning display to defeat Serbia via penalties on Thursday to ensure a place at the upcoming Euro 2020 finals. 

And with games against the Czech Republic, Croatia and the Auld Enemy England to follow you could forgive the Scots for looking ahead to such monumental occasions. 

That is not the mindset of manager Clarke however, and with matches against Slovakia and Israel on the horizon, the 57-year-old has urged his team to refocus. 

Ahead of tomorrow's match against Slovakia, he said: “I interrupted the players’ celebrations the other night just to have five minutes of serious chat. I thanked them for their efforts, players and staff, and also reminded them that we have qualified for Euro 2020 and we can now park that one in the cupboard. 

“It gives us something to look forward to next summer. But now it’s about the next tournament. The next tournament is Qatar 2022 and we want to be involved in that too. 

“We know better than anybody now surely how important these Nations League games are. It did give us the route. It started in 2018 with Alex Mcleish and his staff and a lot of the players who were involved in those games are no longer with us. 

“But that’s where the journey started, in the Nations League C Section. I sent Alex a text this morning just to say thanks because he started the journey and thankfully we managed to finish the journey in Serbia.” 

Momentum is a key factor in football and with Scotland registering nine games on the bounce without defeat, Clarke is keen for that form to continue when his team take to the field in Trnava tomorrow. 

“Most of the squad are at a really good age and coming to a time in their lives where they have good international experience and are picking up more,” he told Herald and Times Sport. 

“There is a nucleus there, the core of the squad can hopefully carry on for a few more years and hopefully take in another qualification. That has to be the aim. 

“Listen we have recuperated quite well. I know the party and the celebration has made a lot of headlines but because of the draining nature of the game, emotionally and physically, it actually just broke up by itself. 

“You get to a stage in the night when you are just tired and drift off to bed. That’s not such a big part of it but the effort in the game was huge so I’m going to have to make a few changes to the team. 

“I’m going to give them another 24 hours just to see how the knocks and niggles settle down. I will speak to certain players about whether they are good to go again. Because on the back of the next game we have another on Wednesday. We have two games to prepare for.”