The coach has guided the Tartan Army to this summer's tournament in Germany and says that maintaining his composure will be important – particularly as his team have been pitched against the hosts in the opening match.

Speaking on the BBC's 'This Sporting Life' podcast, Clarke said: "I think the heart's always going, but the deadpan is always there as well.

"It's just the way I conduct myself. For matches, I've always tried to be the same. I always try to exude calmness, but I'm maybe not always calm inside.

"I'll be telling the players we have to play the game, not the occasion. We can't carried away too much by the fact it's an opening game.

"Everyone's going to feel the emotion, but you have to use the emotion in a positive way. What you can't do is get overtaken by the emotion and be a little bit of a tourist. We're there as professionals to do a job and the job is to win the match."

Clarke is looking forward to Scotland getting the chance to prove themselves in a "proper tournament", even though they qualified for the Covid-affected Euro 2020 that was played across the continent.

He said: "It just feels more like... I'm probably wrong to say this but I'm going to say it anyway... It feels more like a proper tournament, because you're going to one country, there's going to be full houses and we're involved in the glamour game, the opening one of the tournament. I'm excited."