WILLIE Ormond, Ally MacLeod and Jock Stein never had to put up with this kind of thing. That is perhaps a good thing, because they might just be birling in their grave at the very thought of it.

When Scotland’s Euro 2020 campaign gets under way in Kazakhstan on Thursday evening, Alex McLeish will be without at least two key members of his squad. But it isn’t so much injury which will keep Ryan Fraser and Callum Paterson out of action – both will be diligently working away back in the UK before flying in for the second part of the double header against San Marino – it is the thought of the injury they MIGHT get if they play on the Fifa-approved artificial surface at the Astana Arena.

While he acknowledges the fact that significant insurance bills also come into play to protect Premier League players who also just happen to be multi-million-pound assets, assistant manager Peter Grant is old school enough to feel that some of this might just be in the players’ heads. Not least, because he insists there are plenty of these new hybrid grass pitches which are firmer than the artificial turf itself.

“It’s not the ideal scenario,” admits Grant. “Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of these new football pitches, the grass ones, that are harder than the Astroturf.

“I think psychologically, because people have always said the plastic pitch is no good, you can’t play on this, that’s already in our mind set. Whereas, probably in years to come they might all be that way because they’re all starting to make the pitches on grass and sand.

“If you go to some of the training pitches, they’re hard,” he added. “We [Grant and McLeish] were at Aston Villa and they had the highest bounce in British football. They used to do a hammer test on it.

“It was rock solid—harder than I would say some of these 4Gs are. But it was a magnificent pitch to play on.

“I remember back when I was at Celtic we trained at Helenvale on a Tuesday and we thought ‘this is an ice rink’. We had gone from the best grass pitch ever to an Astroturf that was rock solid. So that was a bit different.

“These 4G are completely different but the issue has become not just the players, but the clubs because of insurance regarding previous injuries. The finance the boys are getting paid now is a big issue because you get a medical bill for someone being out if they’re injured, god forbid. It puts you in a situation. But you could get the same injury, probably worse on grass.

“It’s just the way it is right now. It’s disappointing but we’d rather have the boys available for the games rather than have them for one and lose them for the second.”

Losing the services of Fraser and Paterson is bad enough – but you can throw in the likes of veteran duo Steven Fletcher and Robert Snodgrass, both of whom are currently in good form for their clubs but managing injuries in a manner which means they weren’t considered for Scotland duty. It is to be hoped none of this comes back to bite the national team manager in one of those bothersome opening matches which are quietly essential to our qualifying hopes.

“Look, it’s massive,” admits Grant. “Everyone wants to go and win the first game. It’s vital, because then there’s not as much pressure on the second one. Whatever competition if you lose the first game you are fighting and there is no room for error. We’re up against a team who are very similar to Israel.”

In the absence of Fletcher, the onus up front may fall upon Oliver Burke, the Kirkcaldy-born 21-year-old currently impressing on-loan at Celtic from Nottingham Forest. While Burke hasn’t played for the full team since 2017, Grant was part of the backroom team at the Toulon Tournament in 2017 as the youngster inspired Scotland to the first of two semi-finals in back-to-back years.

“Anybody who knows Oli’s personality, he is not the most outgoing,” said Grant. “But he is the perfect example of a footballer, size wise and pace wise. I would call him a modern-day carve-out. It’s now about getting that game time, something I feel he has missed out on.

“He is learning the game,” added Grant. “Sometimes if you have that pace and power at a young age that’s all that is expected, because you just run away from everybody. You don’t really need to learn anything because you are bigger stronger and quicker. You get away with that. But the next level is a bit different and you can understand Gordon’s [Strachan] frustration with him.

“We had those frustrations with the 21s too. Against the Czech Republic he was magnificent and against England they were so frightened of him. When we were defending, they were keeping five back just to watch him.

“But he didn’t play particularly well in the game. That’s the time when big players stand up. So he has the capabilities but he needs to find consistency.

“But even his interviews this season, I have been watching him closely since he come up and he seems a wee bit more outward. These things will make a more rounded person but also a better all-round footballer.

“We are all desperate for him to do well. Everybody you speak to says he has all the tools. Now we need to work out how we get the best out of him. It’s no use picking Oli Burke if we are not going to play a certain style or a certain way. If we are not going to have people who see him making those movements, it would be a waste of time picking him.’

“Listen, people are always frightened of pace in the final third. But you can have all the pace in the world. If that was all that mattered sprinters would be playing. If they don’t have a football brain it’s a waste of time. We need to give Oli that wee bit of knowledge and hopefully the game time he has had with Celtic, the understanding of playing a different position, will help.”