Roberto Martinez feels Scotland fans should appreciate the record of Steve Clarke as he attempts to arrest a poor run of results in Lisbon.
Clarke will lead Scotland into Sunday's Nations League clash on the back of just one win in 13 matches, against Gibraltar, and fresh from an agonising 3-2 home defeat by Poland, who scored a second penalty in stoppage time.
Many fans felt it was time for a change after Scotland’s poor Euro 2024, but Portugal boss Martinez sees the bigger picture.
He said: ‘It’s important to measure what Steve Clarke has done for the national team.
‘What he built, that feeling of having a national team that qualifies with an incredible record and impressive passage to the Euros, is something worth believing in and supporting. It’s not easy to go to big tournaments and my experience tells me it’s well worth it to carry on and to believe in a project well beyond the emotional test of a big tournament, when you are up against the best players.
Although Scotland have struggled recently, Martinez commented on Clarke's overall impact
‘Steve has a lot of experience and he has been in big dressing rooms. It’s more a question of what he has done overall rather than more recent results.’
Martinez called Scotland captain Andy Robertson ‘one of the best full backs in European football’, adding: ‘The amount of players you have playing week in and week out in the Premier League speaks volumes for the quality of their dressing room.’