SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has suggested that Nathan Patterson’s form has suffered because he has not featured regularly for Everton in the Premier League in England this year.

However, he has backed the former Rangers right back to learn invaluable lessons from the costly error he made in the 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland in a friendly international at Hampden on Tuesday evening.

Patterson gave the ball away to Conor Bradley inside his own penalty box in the first half of the game and the Liverpool youngster fired, with a little help of a deflection, into the top right corner to open his account at international level.

 The 6ft tall 22-year-old, who started in the matches against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland because Aaron Hickey of Brentford is sidelined with a hamstring injury and has not played since October, has enjoyed some outstanding games in a dark blue jersey in the past.

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However, the 21-times capped defender has not featured for his Goodison Park club since January and it showed at times during a desperately disappointing international double header.

Asked if he felt that a lack of competitive minutes on Merseyside in the past couple of months had been responsible for his mistake, Clarke said: “Possibly, possibly not enough games.

Glasgow Times: Scotland manager Steve Clarke during the 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland at Hampden on Tuesday night“But I thought he did well in the game. He did fantastic to get back in (and retrieve the ball after he had given it away before the goal). He did well and then he picked the wrong option. It happens, if you are not playing.

“But he is a young player who we know will be part of what we are trying to do in the future. He will learn.”

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Meanwhile, Clarke has insisted that he was nonplussed about Scotland being booed by their own supporters at half-time and full-time in the Northern Ireland game – but acknowledged the feelgood factor from their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was not going to last forever.  

“I don’t really notice to be honest,” he said. “That is not my concern. There is nothing I can do to control that so I don’t concern myself with that. You only have so much credit. If you keep spending your credit you run out of money. It is just the same.”