IT was, a rueful Steve Clarke admitted, his “welcome to international football”. Scotland may not have been overly blessed in the central defensive position in recent times, but at least the former Kilmarnock manager knew where he stood with the defenders he selected for Cyprus and Belgium in the previous matchday.
Yet having been pondering his preferred combination all summer long, he found the rug pulled from under him in the space of 48 hours as no fewer than three of his options in that position underwent scans and were forced to pull out.
Scott McKenna of Aberdeen, the man who so nearly made Belgium sweat late on in Brussels, misses out with a hamstring. Stuart Findlay, the left-sided stopper who he knows so well from his time at Kilmarnock, is unable capitalise as his ankle is swollen enough to keep him out for 10 days or so. The next one to bite the dust was John Souttar of Hearts.
You might have thought Scotland would be down to the bare bones in such a scenario. So it is rather remarkable that Clarke can still turn to a 27-year-old who has been captain and ever present in Norwich City’s enterprising start to life back in the Premier League. And another man in the prime of his career who almost captained sleeping giants Leeds United back to the top tier of English football. Maybe Scottish central defenders aren’t so bad after all.
Take a bow, Grant Hanley and Liam Cooper. Even if the former won the last of his 29 caps in the 1-0 friendly defeat to Costa Rica in March 2018, and the latter has never taken to the field for Scotland despite being named in a couple of squads under Gordon Strachan.
With Charlie Mulgrew, who generally played well in the opening double header against Cyprus and Belgium, the other recognised central defender in the group, one of this pair at least is almost certain to be required to step up against the Russians and the Belgians, even though Clarke has also kept a spot potentially open. If required, it will either go to David Bates of Sheffield Wednesday, Mikey Devlin of Aberdeen or Craig Halkett of Hearts. While the brawny Hanley may be deemed suitable to shackle the hulking Artem Dzyuba, who so much of Russia’s play goes through, lord knows who is out there capable of getting to grips with the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
“Centre half was my welcome to international football,” said Clarke. “In the last 48 hours three scans – three of the centre backs I picked last time – Stuart Findlay, Scott McKenna and John Souttar – all ruled out. So that was a bit of a blow. But listen, we have managed to pick a guy who is captaining Norwich in the English Premier League and we have Liam Cooper, captain of Leeds United at the top of the Championship.
“Charlie has great experience and is maybe not getting the minutes on the pitch he should be at Wigan just now, but hopefully that will change soon.
“I have actually left a space because of the three late calls offs – there is space for another one. “David Bates has gone to Sheffield Wednesday and not played yet,” added Clarke. “Andy Considine has been keeping Mikey Devlin out of the Aberdeen team.
“That might change, he might get a chance now Scott has been ruled out. And Craig Halkett did well last year for Livingston and is in the Hearts team – I watched him on Sunday against Celtic and he did OK. Anyone can score an own goal, I scored a few of them myself!
“So we have other options. I want to take a bit more time and see if some of them get some more game time before deciding whether to bring another one in.”
It isn’t just the centre of defence where Clarke has had to think again. His last line of defence, at once presumed to be such a strength of this Scotland squad, suddenly doesn’t seem so secure. You need only cast your mind back a year to recall Allan McGregor, Craig Gordon and David Marshall all vying for supremacy, while Scott Bain waited in the wings. It was the kind of riches in the position which laid all English gags about our goalkeepers firmly to rest.
Suddenly, Bain picks up an injury, and Fraser Forster’s arrival squeezes Craig Gordon out of the first team picture. McGregor has opted for an untimely international retirement and even the likes of Liam Kelly, imperious at Livingston, is a League Cup goalkeeper at QPR. Zander Clark at St Johnstone may get his chance in the future but for now Clarke has alighted on the name of Craig MacGilliviray of Portsmouth to understudy Marshall, now of Wigan, and Sunderland’s Jon McLaughlin. It is a name so far out of left-field that even dyed in the wool Tartan Army followers must have been doing a double take yesterday.
“Craig has been flagged up to me by a number of people,” said Clarke. “He is not very well known.
“It’s a blow to us losing Scott Bain,” added the Scotland manager. “He was in the squad and he was Celtic’s Number 1 although Celtic signing Fraser Forster maybe will change that but you never know. That’s for Neil Lennon to decide at Celtic.
“I was thinking ‘Okay, we have got David Marshall who has got good experience and we know what he can do’. We’ve got Jon McLaughlin who has not got many caps but has been in a few squads and has good experience and is playing every week. I was looking at bringing in another keeper so we had a look at Liam Kelly at the end of last year. Liam has gone to QPR and is not starting although hopefully he will play the League Cup.
“But I’ve got good reports on Craig and I thought it was an opportunity to bring him in and have a look at him first-hand. I’ve spoken to Stephen Woods about the situation and Stevie’s watched him on video quite a lot for me. He’s doing very well, playing for Portsmouth every week, and his club manager speaks very highly of him. He’s got good experience with over 50 game now and we just feel it’s a chance to bring him into the squad.”
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