Keeper Cieran Slicker is one of three Town players who could win senior caps this evening - along with George Hirst, also with Scotland, and Nathan Broadhead with Wales - with Scots boss Steve Clarke having given the 22-year-old his backing for “a big future” following his tough international debut against Iceland on Friday evening.

Slicker came on as a seventh minute substitute at Hampden Park and his error led to an Iceland goal almost immediately and further mistakes contributed to the visitors winning the friendly 3-1.

Scotland face Liechtenstein in Vaduz in another friendly tonight (KO 5pm, BBC One Scotland/BBC Two/BBC iPlayer), Clarke having added two more keepers to his squad, uncapped pair Ross Doohan and Callan McKenna, with five senior goalkeepers - including Robby McCrorie and Angus Gunn, who respectively suffered knocks in the warm-up and in the game on Friday - unavailable due to injury.

Former Scotland U21 international Doohan, 27, who is joining Celtic from Aberdeen, where he had been second-choice, was on holiday in Turkey with his family but had been training later than most as the Dons played in the Scottish Cup final.

Bournemouth’s McKenna, 18, had been with the squad prior to the Iceland game as a fourth keeper but not officially in the party.

“Everybody makes a big thing about Cieran,” Clarke said at a Sunday pre-match press conference. “If you play a young goalkeeper, there’s a chance he’ll make mistakes.

“If you go through the three goals and I’ve already touched on the fact we should have done much better with the two set plays.

“The first one’s a clearance on his weaker foot that doesn’t quite clear the boy in midfield. When the ball comes to the edge of the box we allow the striker to turn and shoot, and nobody was saving that shot because it was a great finish.

“That’s just the way it is. Cieran’s a good goalkeeper, trains well, works well in the camp when he’s in. He’s just had an unfortunate night.

“He’ll bounce back from it, he’ll do well at his club. He needs to play more games, he needs to play more games regularly, but he’s got a big future in front of him.”

The former Kilmarnock boss added: “It didn’t go the way he wanted but he’ll be the future for sure.

“He’s a goalkeeper, a very good goalkeeper as well. We see every day in training the saves he pulls off and how good a person he is.

“Yeah, he’s upset with himself but that's just because he’s high standards. He shows in [how] he does it, day out for us and his club. Ask him that in two years’ time and I’m sure he'll be fine.”

Quizzed on whether he has made a decision on who he will start in tonight’s match, Clarke said: “Yes, but I’ll wait until tomorrow just to finalise but in my head I’m thinking I know what I’m going to do.”

Meanwhile, Clarke was impressed by Hirst, who was making his first Scotland start and winning his third full cap against the Icelanders.

“He had a chance with the header, probably just too high for him,” he recalled. “He had a good shot that the goalkeeper made a fantastic save from in the first half, he had a good header that the goalkeeper made a fantastic save from in the second half.

“And he was Johnny-on-the-spot for the tap-in for the goal that was just offside. Yes, he caught my eye.”

Broadhead, who was an unused sub in Friday’s 3-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Liechtenstein in Cardiff, will hope to win his 15th full cap and score his third international goal in this evening’s somewhat tougher qualifier against Belgium in Brussels (KO 7.45pm, BBC Three/iPlayer and S4C).

Photo: REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

PortmanTerrorist added 15:33 - Jun 9 I really like the lad, but I think this performance and subsequent comments from Clarke now point to an almost certain loan next season....assuming we do not sell. he has to play and that won't e a Portman Road with the senior keepers we already have on the books.
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 16:05 - Jun 9 That's obvious PT...otherwise we'll have a (soon to be) 23 year old keeper who has never played a league match. We'll kill his career if we don't loan him out.
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Radlett_blue added 16:57 - Jun 9 He won't have any future as a professional unless he can get over the nerves that clearly must have affected him last week. He won't play today & not again until August & it will take a slightly brave club to give him a game after last week's horror show. However, he needs to be playing some senior football.
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itfchorry added 18:03 - Jun 9 Every time I have seen him play - He has been outstanding- All the best Cieran
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