STEVE CLARKE insists Athens in no place for Scotland rookies.
Clarke has vowed to pick an experienced line-up in the Nations League relegation first-leg play-off with Greece.
Steve Clarke speaks to the media[/caption]
James Wilson during a Heart of Midlothian press conference at the Oriam[/caption]
New striker George Hirst will be benched alongside Max Johnston and kids Lennon Miller and James Wilson.
Instead, Clarke will send out capped campaigners in front of the hostile 33,000 sell-out crowd.
He said: “It always feel like a fresh start to me after that winter break.
“It’s a long time from November to March before you get your group of players back together.
“It’s nice to have four new faces around you with a bit of youth as well, which is always good.
“Hopefully that’s a little glimpse of the future.
“But obviously, we’ve got the boys that have done ever so well.
“We’ve got lots of experience, lots of caps.
“And maybe the situation, the atmosphere here and the opponents that we’re playing needs an experienced team on the pitch.”
Clarke still believes his team WON’T be affected by the sell-out crowd in the Panathinaikos stadium.
He added: “It’s not an issue.
“You want the strongest atmosphere you can get if you’re a player.
“You’ve got to come here and enjoy this type of occasion, this type of atmosphere.
“We’re used to it. We’ve played against good teams away from home before.
“Recently we’ve had a couple of good results away from home.
“Hopefully we can get another one here tomorrow night.
“Personally, I think they’re a very good team.
Scotland’s George Hirst (right) during a training session at Lesser Hampden[/caption]
“As a head coach, I’ve always tried to avoid singling out one or two players from the opposite opposition.
“I feel that as a team, we have to respect them as a team.
“Obviously it was a very good qualifying campaign in the Nations League for Greece.
“Any team that goes to Wembley and beats England is a good team.
“We know the strengths of the team and we know what we have to do to try and get a result here.
“But we’ll try to do our best to go up against a team like that.”
Ipswich hitman Hirst could make his debut off the bench having impressed in training.
Clarke added: “He’s a big lad.
“He’s had injury problems this season, so he’s been a little bit in and out of the Ipswich team.
Lennon Miller celebrates his call up to the Scotland squad[/caption]
“He’s scored some goals recently, which is good. I have always liked him.
“He’s similar in style and stature to Lyndon Dykes, who misses out with an injury.
Max Johnston of SK Sturm Graz looks on during the Champions League[/caption]
“Hopefully he can bring as much to the team as Lyndon has always brought to the team.
“He’s a target player. We’ve always tried to have that type of forward player because we feel we’ve got goals in the midfield.
“I pray that George can help us to maybe score a few more goals.
“Anybody who’s in the squad has a chance to be on the pitch at some stage.
“The Nations League is an upgrade on the friendlies.
“We used to play too many friendlies.”
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