THE absence of family, the closure of pubs and no supporters in the stadium meant it was an unusual sort of party for the Tartan Army on Thursday night.

But after witnessing the nation wide celebrations on social media – we can definitely say that Scotland rose up against the coronavirus to be a nation again.

The global pandemic has had a devastating impact on the world and Scotland has been no different with far too many losing loved ones and their livelihoods along the way.

Ahead of Scotland’s match with Serbia on Thursday the Scottish Football Association announced that up to 18 members of staff could be made redundant due to the devastating impact of Covid-19.

The victory and subsequent qualification for Euro 2020 will bank Scotland’s football governing body €9.25million, which will hopefully go a long way in helping to support those who could be at risk.

Hampden boss Steve Clarke was made aware of the news ahead of the Scots’ trip to Belgrade on Thursday and after guiding his team to victory via a nerve-racking penalty shootout, the 57-year-old now hopes the windfall can secure as many jobs as possible.

“It wasn’t something that was on my mind [during the game]. It’s something I was aware of,” he told Herald and Times Sport.

“When you work your bosses tell you certain things. Everybody knows that financially and economically this is a very difficult time for everybody.

“I believe the Scottish FA have already taken out a £5 million loan to try and help with the process of getting through this global pandemic. And obviously the fact we have qualified means there is going to be some more revenue coming in.

“It will probably be too late to save some of the jobs that are going to go, which is a shame, but maybe it will stop future redundancies.

“I don’t know, it’s not my department. But I know it’s important. It’s been a long time since we qualified.

“You have to understand that everybody needs money coming in. The SFA has no revenue from gate receipts at the moment so I’m sure this is a welcome help to them.”

Scotland’s current crop became national heroes when they delivered a much sought after spot at the finals of a major tournament.

The team conjured up one of their best performances to date since Clarke took over as manager from Alex McLeish - but for the current national team manager, there is always room for improvement.

He continued: “You always feel there is more to come. You always strive to improve so yes we can get better as a team.

“If you take the two nations League matches in isolation, the Israel game came with home advantage and an expectation that we should win. That brings its own pressure and sometimes that and the nerves can stifle the team a little bit.

“Whether that happened or not I can’t judge because I don’t know. Maybe Israel did so well on the night that we found it tough. But we managed to get through and played with a little bit more freedom away from home.

“Serbia were favourites so the pressure was more on them. And we responded very well to that. In the 90 minutes I thought we were terrific.”

Attention now turns to a Nations League double header with matches against Slovakia and Israel coming thick and fast.

On the injury front, Clarke has revealed that skipper Andy Robertson could miss the action due to a hamstring problem.

He said: “The biggest worry would be Andy Robertson. Andy is the one I have the biggest doubt about. And I have to mention the worst injury is actually assistant coach John Carver!

“Unfortunately he has ended up on crutches although in his defence I have to point out that he got the injury on the pitch at the end.

“Somebody jumped on his back and unfortunately his calf exploded. He has a really sore one, he is hobbling around but he is putting a brave face on it.”

Clarke is set to make a number of changes in Trnava, with Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong likely to make a start.

Praising the former Celtic man and the squad as a whole, Clarke said: “He's a good player and he was in my thoughts for the game on Thursday night, he just missed out, like a lot of them did because they are all giving me decisions to make.

“We had a training session this morning and I can see already that the players are playing for their places at Euro 2020. It was a marvellous training session. I was really pleased with it.

“Sometimes after a day's rest it takes them a little bit of time to get up to speed but it was a really good session. Listen, everyone's in my thoughts, not just Stuart.

“All the ones that didn't play the other night, if I chose to go with them, they know I trust them and I know they will do their best for their country and that's really important for us.”

Slovakia come into tomorrow's match after also securing their place at Euro 2020 via the play-off route.

Sefan Tarkovic’s side defeated Northern Ireland in extra time in Belfast so confidence will also be running high.

Clarke takes some belief from beating the Slovaks last month though. He added: “Since the last time we played them unfortunately their head coach lost his job, so they have changed coach.

“They put on a very good performance in Belfast against Northern Ireland. It was a difficult place to go and get the win and they managed to do that. They have good players, we saw that at Hampden.

“Hamsik is the one to mention, top player and catalyst for the team but maybe they will make a few changes as well. Mentally and physically, I'd imagine they are pretty drained as well after such a difficult night. Let's see what happens, but it will be a tough game.”