Everton star backed after international error against Liverpool ace as Rangers academy product sent message

Steve Clarke has backed Rangers academy product Nathan Patterson after a tough night for the right-back on Scotland duty.

The defender has had limited minutes under Sean Dyche in 2024 and has not played in the Premier League since January. He committed an error that allowed Liverpool star Conor Bradley to score the winner in a 1-0 friendly win for Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Scotland are now seven games without a win heading into two final warm-up matches with Gibraltar and Finland prior to Euro 2024. Leeds United defender Liam Cooper has also been backed after a rare start in central defence, as Clarke assessed the defeat.

He said: "We can always take positives. I thought Liam Cooper was good at centre back. Coops hasn’t played much for his club this year so nice to see he has kept himself in shape. It was good to get Nathan back on the pitch, another game for young Nathan.

"He’s not playing much football for his club, but when he comes here he gets a chance to play. Good performance for 70 minutes against a top side on Friday night. That was good.

"We have to be better at the bits not so good. I will go away, assess both games and the biggest thing for us is to be ready for June. I was a little bit late for the press conference and I’d rather be sitting here in my position than, unfortunately, Wales – who just got knocked out on penalty kicks.

"So it’s not all doom and gloom. The result was obviously disappointing because we wanted to win the game and credit to Northern Ireland. I thought they were excellent, they played well."