STEVE Clarke has backed his Scotland players to maintain the standards they set in the second-half of their thrilling 3-2 win over Israel when they take on the Faroe Islands in a Qatar 2022 qualifier tomorrow night.

Andy Robertson and his team mates did a lap of honour around Hampden in front of 50,000 delirious fans on Saturday evening after coming from behind twice and winning a crucial Group F match with an injury-time goal from Scott McTominay.

The triumph means the national team, who are four points clear of Israel and Austria with three games remaining, can secure second spot in the section and progress to the play-offs if they beat the Faroes in Torshavn and Moldova in Chisinau next month.

However, Clarke is confident that his men have put the elation of their weekend result firmly behind them and are focusing fully on recording a fourth consecutive victory on the artificial pitch at Torsvollur.

Asked if there was any danger of Scotland suffering a hangover from their weekend heroics, he said:  “None whatsoever. When you score late, you get that adrenalin rush, everybody’s still buzzing and still excited about it.

“I think at the end of the game, it was really just a little thank you and a ‘nice to see you again’. It’s been a while since Hampden was rocking like that. I can understand why the players went out there. It was more or less for the players to say thank you to the fans. Then the fans have the chance to say thanks to the players on the way back.

“But we’ve already spoken in the dressing room about it. It’s a good night, it’s a good second half, it’s three points. It’s just one more step on the road to Qatar. And that’s what we’ll focus on. The next game, we need three more points.

“I’ve been saying for a long time that this is a group of players who want to do well for their country and want to be successful for their country. And they show it. Every time they go on to the pitch, they show it.”

Clarke sensed the first sell-out Hampden crowd of his two-and-half year reign as Scotland manager had helped his side battle until the very end of the Israel match and believes they can tap into the supporters’ positivity in their remaining fixtures. 

“The Tartan Army were fantastic,” he said. “It was my first experience of a good win here at Hampden with the full crowd and the players went out and they enjoyed it. Hopefully they can feed off each other.”

The former West Brom, Reading and Kilmarnock manager felt the performances of Jack Hendry and McTominay had typified the national team’s fighting spirit.

The centre backs gave away the free-kicks that lead to the Israel goals – but they combined at a John McGinn corner at the death to clinch a famous victory.

“Jack gets the touch and Scott puts it in,” he said. “It wasn’t his hand or his arms so it counts. It doesn’t matter how you put them in, so long as you do.

“It would have been an easy night to say: ‘Everything’s gone against us’. But we turned it round, or the players turned it round. We had a good performance in the second-half.”