"This time, it's a different Steve Clarke."

The Scotland manager senses renewed energy and positivity as he guides his side into a third major tournament.

The 62-year-old ended a long finals drought when he steered the men's national team to the pandemic-affected Euro 2020.

Play-off disappointment in the bid for the 2022 World Cup was followed by a strong run to Euro 2024.

"I've not really enjoyed the previous two tournaments if I'm being honest," Clarke tells BBC Scotland in an open interview.

So why? Smaller crowds, two group matches at Hampden and one at Wembley "didn't give the feel of a tournament" at Euro 2020, he explains.

Reflecting on their performance in Germany two years ago, he adds: "We let ourselves down. We didn't play as well as we should have done and I probably didn't make the decisions that I should have."

Clarke is sure he and his players have absorbed those lessons and are now ready to "break that glass ceiling" by reaching a historic knockout stage.

"What we've achieved up to now is great," he says. "Let's see if we can achieve a little bit more."

Two summers ago, Scotland's Euros opener proved one of their biggest disappointments under Clarke - a 5-1 defeat to hosts Germany.

"We have to remember how bad that felt," the head coach says.

Clarke believes that heavy loss left Scotland "on the back foot" for the rest of their campaign, which again finished at the group stage.

"This time, we have to make sure we start on the front foot," he insists.

Judging by the Scots' warm-up results, there are indications they can deliver that against a comparable opponent this weekend.

The recent switch to an attacking 4-4-2 formation with two central strikers and direct winger Ben Doak on the right supports the notion of a "different Steve Clarke", although he noted he has been unfairly "tagged with a label".

"I think I've shown consistently throughout my time that I'm prepared to try something different," says Clarke, who believes he has his strongest squad depth yet.

"Going into this tournament, the something different was to think about maybe playing 4-4-2 to see how it worked.

"What people don't understand is when you're at a club you can work on a system for a long period of time and have a lot of training sessions on it. When you're in an international camp you don't have that."