BOURNEMOUTH winger Ryan Fraser has revealed that he missed Scotland's trip to Kazakhstan over fears that any potential injury that the 25-year-old suffered would be career-ending. Fraser said: "Look, I’d do anything to play for Scotland. But at the end of the day I need to look after myself as well."
And Fraser has insisted the Scotland players remain firmly behind Alex McLeish despite the mounting pressure on their manager. "We just didn’t perform in the end," admitted Fraser. "But we are all together with the manager and we go forward together."
Hibernian striker Marc McNulty, who made his first two appearances for Scotland last week, said that he was pleased that his family came and supported him, but reckons his dad won't have been best pleased with his performance on the pitch. "I don’t think my dad was cheering," said McNulty. "I think he was booing me when I missed those chances. I think I heard him booing!"
Scotland boss Alex McLeish has urged Scotland fans to stick with his team after the widespread criticism of the national side's perfromances against San Marino and Kazakhstan. Speaking of his players' mentality, McLeish said: "They are human beings, sometimes they get affected. But if they come through that it will make them stronger."
Archie Macpherson has insisted that although the 3-0 loss to Kazakhstan was a dreadful performance and result, it doesn't rank as the worst in the national team's history. Macpherson thinks that title belongs to one of one of the best Scotland team's of all time. Well, on paper at least...
Ex-Scotland striker Billy Dodds has described the atmosphere amongst the away support at the San Marino game on Sunday as 'toxic' and admitted he was taken aback by supporters' fury. Dodds said: "It was a horrible atmosphere and I have not experienced that at international level before."
In his latest column for The Herald, Neil Cameron has taken a swipe at the Scottish FA and insists that until Scottish football's governing body are replaced, performances will contiune to slide.
Everyone seems to be discussing whether or not Alex McLeish should be kept on as Scotland boss at the moment. But who could replace him in the Hampden dugout? You can check out our list of five possible contenders to replace McLeish here.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has defended his captain Graeme Shinnie after the 27-year-old's poor performance for Scotland away to Kazakhstan. "For Graeme to have taken so much criticism for it has really angered me over the last little while," said a passionate McInnes. "It is bang out of order."
Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie has been ruled out of Sunday's Old Firm clash as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Christie said: "Hopefully I can start trying to get back into a rhythm again and hopefully join training in the next couple of weeks and then really kick on."
Ahead of this weekend's Old Firm, try and spare a thought for the man in the middle of it at Celtic Park. Ex-referee Kenny Clark has given an in-depth and revealing interview about what it's like to officiate the Glaswegian derby, that you can read here.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes that Rangers boss Steven Gerrard is good enough to play for the Ibrox club, and thinks he would score the winning goal in this weekend's Old Firm if he did. Murphy said: "If he put his boots on against Celtic it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they won and he got the winner."
Ex-Rangers striker Michael Mols has revealed that he is unsurprised by Alfredo Morelos' development at Rangers after he scouted the Colombian for Dutch side Utrecht. "We followed him through footage when he was in Finland but we couldn’t afford him," Mols said. "When he signed for Rangers it was quite funny, knowing we’d watched him."
In tennis, Jamie Murray has launched a withering attack on British tennis for failing to acknowledge his family’s undeniable sporting legacy. "Whoever is to blame for the situation in Scotland, particularly for not capitalising on the interest levels in tennis that we have been able to create for the last 10 years or whatever, it's f****** annoying," said Murray.
And in cycling, Katie Archibald bounced back from Track Cycling World Championships disappointment by winning the women’s classification at Six Day Manchester. A delighted Archibald said: "I’ve just been stood on stage, someone pouring champagne on my head so there’s a bit of living in the moment right now."
Elsewhere, the Scottish Sun think that Swansea striker Oli McBurnie is a £5 million summer transfer target for Ligue 1 side Nice.
And Ex-Celtic defender Vidar Roseth has told the Daily Record that he's been very impressed with Kristoffer Ajer's development at Celtic over the last couple of seasons.
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