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West Ham No2 Clarke fears for Scottish football future

West Ham United No2 Steve Clarke admits he has big concerns for the future of talent in his native Scotland.

Clarke says there isn't much young talent to get excited about north of the border.

He told the Sunday Times: "I'd never been to the new St Mirren Park so thought I'd take the chance with a weekend off. I was quite disappointed with the standard. I know it's a difficult time for everyone, but it seems to be particularly bad in Scotland. I'm looking at the game for young players and don't see too many that excite me.<> "One or two have come out, [Steven] Fletcher at Burnley has done well, but it's a very big transition now. Surely somebody somewhere will say, 'Okay, enough's enough, let's find a way to improve the standard'. Maybe the SFA will stand up and say we haven't got the same quantity so we have to look harder for the quality. There must be people within Scottish football looking to improve the situation. Is it to change the coaching structure at Largs? Is it time to freshen that up and encourage new faces, different people with different ideas? I just felt the game I saw was more disappointing than I thought it would be.

"Maybe it was a particularly poor game, I don't know. St Mirren are near the bottom, but Dundee United are third. They'll say, 'We won the game', but I expected a little bit more from them. I'm not having a go, it's just an honest assessment."

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