'Love to be involved' - Doncaster Rovers man Zander Clark maintains World Cup hopes
Doncaster Rovers loanee Zander Clark hopes his steady performances will get him noticed by Scotland chief Steve Clarke with the World Cup on the horizon.
The Hearts man joined Rovers back in January on a loan arrangement for the remainder of the season. Clark, 33, has provided a solid presence between the sticks – aside from a niggly injury that laid him low for a month - and as well as two clean sheets in his eight League One games so far, he's also saved a penalty (away at Plymouth recently).
On Monday, Scotland boss Clarke named his squad for their upcoming friendlies with Ivory Coast and Japan later this month. Clark wasn’t involved in the latest cohort but was part of the squad that went to the Euros in the summer of 2024 and his last call-up was September last year.
With the expanded World Cup - this year's edition will be the first 48-team tournament - less than three months away, Clark still has one eye on being on the Tartan Army’s plane. "Obviously, as a player you want to be involved in those squads," he said.
"But it wasn't the main reason for me taking the move to Doncaster. It was to try something new and test myself in a different league. But I'm playing consistently and hopefully the performances have been good enough that it gives the manager (Clarke) a wee thought.
"But like I say, it's not at the forefront of my mind. It's definitely in there, I'd love to be involved in it. But it's down to me in terms of my performances. If I'm performing well and helping the team, then I'm doing myself no harm. If it doesn't come up for me in terms of the Scotland situation, but if I'm still playing well and it's helping the team here then that's the main aim."
Regarding that aforementioned injury, Clark admits it was a "frustrating" period as he was on the sidelines for a full month from early February up until his return in early March.
He added: "It was in the warm-up at Burton and I'd just got a pass back from Kyle (Letheren, goalkeeping coach) on my left foot and I swung at it and felt a sharp pain in the centre of my quad. I knew straight away it wasn't going to be good, but in the end it was probably the best result we could have hoped for. It didn't affect any tendon or anything in the quad.
"It was frustrating, but that's part and parcel of football. You're going to pick up injuries here and there, you just hope that they're not long-term."