No theatre or curveballs as loyal Clarke puts trust in chosen ones

Beforehand, we knew most things, pretty much. We knew because Clarke said a few weeks ago that the squad was more or less set in his head already.

He values loyalty like he appreciates his next breath, so while others made the case for Oli McBurnie, Oliver Burke, Kieron Bowie, Stephen Welsh and others, Clarke would barely have noticed.

You got the sense that McBurnie could have scored a hat-trick in every game in the last two months of the season and Clarke would have been unmoved. Maybe he doesn't fancy him as a footballer, maybe he doesn't fancy him as a human being. Whatever.

We weren't expecting fireworks, but there was, at least, a story or two. Findlay Curtis, the bit-part and underappreciated 19-year-old from Rangers, is included after a productive loan spell at Kilmarnock. In taking a few steps down the Premiership table, Curtis propelled himself forward into a promised land.

Ross Stewart, a striker injury-plagued and largely ignored in the Clarke era, was selected on the back of stellar form for his club, Southampton. Stewart's goals and power and all-round work-rate is obvious. Sadly, his injury profile has been just as prevalent.

Clarke had him in a squad previously - in the summer of 2022 - but there's a long list of strikers who have appeared in Scotland squads since Stewart was around - not just the stalwarts of Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland, or the more recent arrivals George Hirst, Tommy Conway and Bowie, but also James Wilson, Kevin Nisbet and Jacob Brown.

The manager remembers Stewart well as a player and as a personality. Clarke places great store in upbeat characters.

It's why Liam Kelly is the third goalkeeper. He probably won't see any minutes, but he'll be good around the place; selfless and positive.

After missing out on so many club games because of a body that broke down too often, Stewart gets his reward for resilience. He only has two caps and, relatively speaking, has come from nowhere these past months. He's been outstanding.

Up front, there is no McBurnie despite his terrific season with Hull City. McBurnie might be playing Premier League football next season - it's Hull versus Stewart's Southampton in the play-off final - but he won't be anywhere near a Scotland squad while Clarke is in charge.

McBurnie has been one of the best strikers in the Championship this season, but Clarke was never having him. A personality thing, most likely. On pure footballing merit he deserves to be ahead of Dykes.

The 29-year-old has scored 18 goals in 41 games this season. Dykes has six in 51. If you include Dykes' past three seasons - 140 games - he has scored only one more goal than McBurnie has claimed this term, a campaign that was impacted significantly by injury.