I thought I’d Cad it for the Betfred final
CHRIS CADDEN is grateful that a wild tackle from Latvian Ingars Stuglis hasn’t ruled him out of the Betfred Cup Final.
The Scotland Under-21 midfielder has a huge month ahead for club and country.
After tomorrow’s Euro 2019 qualifier against Ukraine at McDiarmid Park the Motherwell kid faces Premiership games against Aberdeen and Celtic – as well as the League Cup Final against the Hoops at Hampden.
But in Friday’s 1-1 draw with the Latvians he was the victim of a lunge by Stuglis that warranted a straight red card.
It was a shocking tackle that saw Cadden lose his cool.
The 21-year-old says it’s the worst challenge he’s ever been on the receiving end of – and was just thankful there was no lasting damage.
Ahead of the clash with Ukraine, Cadden said: “We put in a few tough tackles ourselves but that one was ridiculous.
“I lost my head a wee bit and I’ve never done that in my life.
“Luckily he hit my shinpad but I’d never tackle a fellow professional like that.
“If he’d gone for the ball, fine. But he was nowhere near it. That’s why I lost the head.
“I hadn’t even said anything to him, I don’t know who he is.
“But I said a few things to him after it that I’ll keep to myself.
“I’ve played in League Two and there are some tackles in that division. But that’s the worst I’ve had in my career.
“My season could have been over so touch wood there was no major damage done.
“It was poor from him though as I have a big month ahead at club level but I can’t think about that going into games.
“If you don’t go into tackles hard, that’s when you get hurt.”
Cadden was left disappointed on Friday as the draw with Latvia put a dent in Scotland’s hopes of qualifying.
But he refused to be too downbeat and said: “It was a tough game and we started slowly. The second half was a lot more like us.
“We wanted to win but it might still be a very important point for us. “Latvia weren’t a threat but then scored with their first shot on goal.
“We have Ukraine now and if we win it’s four points from six which is decent.
“We’re still full of confidence after that second half on Friday.”
With England clear at the top in Group Four, the Scots are chasing a play-off spot with Holland so it’s imperative they pick up three points tomorrow night.
Scot Gemmill’s boys beat the Dutch earlier in the campaign so Cadden insists tomorrow night’s visitors hold no fear for them.
He said: “If we play the way we did in the second half against Latvia we can beat anybody.
“We’ve already beaten Holland in the group so if we start a bit faster and take our chances we can get the win we need.”