Slovakia vs Scotland preview, team news, kick-off, channel

Team news and stats ahead of Slovakia vs Scotland in the UEFA Nations League, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 2pm.

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Team news

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Scotland boss Steve Clarke will make changes for Sunday's Nations League clash with Slovakia, but their Euro 2020 celebrations will have no bearing on his selection. The squad enjoyed their achievement together after beating Serbia on penalties in Thursday's play-off.

When asked if he would make more changes than normal, Clarke said: "The short answer is yes. The long answer probably takes in the fact the celebrations wouldn't have anything to do with it. It was a good celebration but it wasn't crazy, it wasn't silly and over the top.

"It was a physically draining game but emotionally also very, very draining for the players who were out on the pitch.

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"I will give them another 24 hours and speak to three or four players who I have maybe got a doubt about going again after such a tough game, and then I will come up with a team selection that hopefully gets us another three points.

"Lyndon Dykes is suspended and we have one or two knocks and niggles. Andy Robertson will be the most doubtful."

Slovakia were also play-off winners, beating Northern Ireland 2-1 in extra-time, and midfielder Marek Hamsik is set to make his 125th international appearance.

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Slovakia sacked previous manager Pavel Hapal days after losing 1-0 at Hampden and 3-2 against Israel last month, despite reaching the Euro 2020 play-off finals earlier in October.

His replacement, Stefan Tarkovic, recalled former Rangers midfielder Vladimir Weiss, who had fallen out with Hapal. But the Slovan Bratislava player did not feature in Belfast and has left the squad following an agreement with his club.

Veteran defender Tomas Hubocan came out of international retirement to play against Northern Ireland but he missed training on Saturday because of a knock.

How to follow

Slovakia vs Scotland will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Football from 1.30pm; Kick-off at 2pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game goals in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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• Scotland have won their last two international encounters with Slovakia by the same 1-0 scoreline, although both games were at home - a World cup qualifier in October 2017 and a UEFA Nations League match last month.
• Slovakia won their only previous home meeting with Scotland - a 3-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier in October 2016.
• Scotland have won six of their eight UEFA Nations League games (D1 L1), only three countries have won more in the competition since its inception in 2018 (Portugal, Finland and Norway - 7).
• Slovakia have lost six of their eight UEFA Nations League games (W1 D1) and are on a run of five such matches without victory (D1 L4) since a 4-1 win against Ukraine in November 2018. They are one of just three countries yet to keep a clean sheet in the competition (alongside Northern Ireland and Iceland).
• Slovakia have won just one of their last seven international matches at home (D3 L3) - a 2-0 victory against Azerbaijan in November 2019.
• Scotland are unbeaten in each of their last three away games (W2 D1), they last went longer without defeat on the road in September 2006 (5 games - W3 D2).
• Slovakia captain Marek Hamsik has been directly involved in three goals (two goals, one assist) in his last three home matches for his country.
• Ryan Christie has scored in each of his last three games for Scotland, in fact, he has been directly involved in nine goals (four goals, five assists) in just 11 starts for his country, since his debut against Netherlands in November 2017.

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