Scotland head coach Steve Clarke admits solving their goalkeeper issues will be a long-term project as he looks for a stop-gap solution ahead of Monday’s friendly against Liechtenstein.
With regular starter Craig Gordon injured, along with the recently-capped Zander Clark and Liam Kelly, Clarke was relieved to be able to call on the fit-again Angus Gunn for his June squad.
But 22-year-old Cieran Slicker was thrust into an unexpected debut against Iceland on Friday night after Gunn was hit with an ankle injury in the opening stages, Kilmarnock’s Robby McCrorie having suffered a thigh problem in the warm-up.
The Ipswich keeper had only played six first-team matches and struggled with the occasion. He conceded almost immediately, after losing possession himself, and his kicking got worse before it got better.
Slicker conceded two more soft goals after John Souttar’s equaliser and it made for painful viewing to see the inexperienced keeper struggle to deal with what should have been a memorable experience turning into a personal nightmare.
Clarke had brought 18-year-old Callan McKenna into the training squad in midweek with an eye on the future after expressing concern in recent months that the long-term future of the goalkeeping department had been neglected somewhat.
McKenna moved from Queen’s Park to Bournemouth in February 2024 after playing nine first-team games for the Spiders.
The position has been one of Scotland’s strengths for many years, with Gordon and the now retired David Marshall and Allan McGregor all vying for the gloves.
Gordon, now 42, is one of the few Scottish first-choice keepers in the William Hill Premiership and he and Clark have swapped that status in recent seasons with Hearts.
Clarke signalled he would seek to find available keepers who were not on holiday before Scotland leave for Vaduz on Sunday.
His choices in Scotland’s top flight are limited to players that do not regularly play. Ross Doohan has been Aberdeen’s second-choice keeper this season, although he played 18 times because of injuries to Bulgaria international Dimitar Mitov.
Doohan has been tipped to move to Celtic to replace Scott Bain as third choice following the former Dundee keeper’s move to Falkirk. The 33-year-old did not play this season but does have three caps.
Dundee’s Jon McCracken and Ross County’s Ross Laidlaw are also potential options, but both have been on the bench in recent months.
Clarke said: “It’s a circumstance that I pointed out in March. I could see something like this possibly coming.
“The good thing, or the only crumb of comfort to take from it, is it happened in a friendly match.
“We’ll be better covered when it comes to the autumn.
“It’s pretty unusual to have five first choice all struggling with injury, all out. Not everybody plays regularly at their club.
FULL TIME: Scotland 1-3 Iceland.
Tonight’s match ends in defeat at Hampden.#SCOISL pic.twitter.com/NCi7QbH2ce
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 6, 2025
“It’s something that we have to address and something we have to look at. It’s not going to change in a click of a finger. It’s not going to change quickly.
“It’s more for the long term and probably for the next head coach and the next head coach after that.”
Amid the goalkeeping drama, Scotland delivered another poor performance to leave them with just one win in their last nine home matches, the previous one a 3-0 defeat by Greece in the Nations League play-offs.
“Obviously, the last two results have been really disappointing here at Hampden,” said Clarke, who could lose Scott McTominay to a knee injury for Monday’s game. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
