Steve Clarke: Scotland must close gap to Europe's elite sides after crushing defeat against the Netherlands

Steve Clarke insists Scotland must close the gap between themselves and Europe's elite sides after suffering a 4-0 defeat against the Netherlands.

Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring in the first half before Georginio Wijnaldum, Wout Weghorst, and Donyell Malen found the back of the net during a rampant final 10 minutes for the visitors.

The Tartan Army take on Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday, with this summer's European Championships looming large on the horizon.

The Dutch will be among the favourites this summer, but with Scotland's tournament opener against hosts Germany now less than three months away, Clarke has called on his side to go toe-to-toe with the best Europe has to offer.

"We are still searching for that improvement that can close the gap on the top sides," Clarke said in a press conference on Monday.

"Hopefully as we are striving to reach the top sides.

"We are looking to move further away from the sides that are seeded below us.

"That has to be our objective. We are a pot two team now, but we have to be a better pot two team, and eventually, we have to try to latch on to the pot one teams.

"There was a lot that we did like [against the Netherlands]. A lot of what we spoke about in training, we transferred to the pitch, and it worked well for a long time in the game.

"When you stop doing what you have been working on and switch off towards the end of the game, against the top teams especially, you get punished."

Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson admitted the squad were "embarrassed" by their collapse in Amsterdam.

Clarke's side are now without a win in six games and have also conceded 18 goals in that time.

Former West Brom, Reading, and Kilmarnock manager Clarke called on all his players to have the same high standards as the Champions League and Premier League winner.

"That's what we need from everybody in the squad," added Clarke.

"We always try to set the bar as high as we can. We want to improve.

"I keep saying there's improvement in the group, I think for long spells in the game the other night, you could maybe get a glimpse of that improvement that I speak about, but then towards the end, we didn't do what we were good at, and that's why the score line went the way it went."

"A lot of what we spoke about in training and what we tried to do in training we transfer."

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