SCOTLAND manager Alex McLeish has hit out at the English Football League for scheduling matches on Thursday night, less than 48 hours after a host of internationals are played all over Europe.
Charlie Mulgrew, Scotland’s captain in Friday night’s defeat to Costa Rica at Hampden, is the man in McLeish’s squad who will be impacted, with his club side Blackburn Rovers having a crucial match against Bradford City scheduled for Thursday evening.
McLeish admits that the timing of the game at Ewood Park may affect his thinking as he ponders his line-up for Tuesday night’s game against Hungary in Budapest, but that the good of his Scotland team must always come first over any club considerations.
Asked if he was surprised the EFL had scheduled matches so soon after the international fixtures, McLeish said; “Aye. It has come into my thinking.
“It was a big test for him on Friday, it was a tough game and he had a lot of work to do in that game. So, we’ll look at whether he starts or plays a part of it. But we’re very aware he’s got a game on Thursday, we don’t want to fall out with clubs, but Scotland has got to come first, even in this situation.
“It’s not our fault the English League have put a game on that night, we can’t help that.”
McLeish says Andy Robertson, who was handed the armband by Mulgrew when the skipper was substituted late on, may lead the team if he decides to rest the Blackburn Rovers man.
“We’ll definitely look at it,” he said. “Andy excelled on Friday night, in the second half especially. He showed us just what a top player he is, playing for a top team and with the players he’s playing with. He’s part of that brilliant Liverpool team and they all trust Andy as much as he trusts them.
“We’ve got a great player there. We’re thankful we’ve got him. We don’t have superstars, as such, but we have to look to guys like Andy Robertson as leaders, guys to look up to and try and emulate what he’s done.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel