Steve Clarke believes the SPFL could have had a contingency plan for his Scotland team reaching the Euro 2020 play-offs and moved games earlier in the Premiership season to allow a weekend off before facing Israel. Scotland play Israel at Hampden on Thursday, March 26 and their manager’s wish for a free weekend leading up to the game looks unlikely to be granted. Celtic and Rangers would both have to play league games on Sunday March 22 if they are still in the Europa League because there are no alternative dates that they could use for league games. Clarke is philosophical about not getting as much preparation time as he would like before the semi-final against Israel — with a possible final to follow against Norway…

Source: The Times January 23, 2020 00:04 UTC