YOU’RE TAKING AN ECK OF A RISK LEIGH
McLeish warns Celts striker as he quits Scotland squad for crunch games with Israel and Portugal..
ALEX McLEISH has warned Leigh Griffiths he is gambling with his Scotland future by pulling out of the squad without being injured.
National boss Eck made it clear there’s no guarantee the Celtic striker will get back in his squad after he called off for Thursday’s Nations League clash in Israel and the friendly against Portugal at the weekend.
Griffiths claimed he wanted to remain in Scotland to “work on his fitness” but reported no specific injury issue that would make him unfit for selection.
Asked if he’s taking a gamble, McLeish said: “Yeah
football. I just loved playing for Scotland. “It was taken away from me but it’s not just that. “Every time a new campaign started I always felt we’ll win this group and qualify. “Why would you not want to be part of a group making history for us because it’s been so long since we were at a major tournament. “Go and be the guy who has played at a major tournament for Scotland because it doesn’t happen often. “So I always thought we’ll qualify and then once we get there we can be the first team to get us out the group stage at a major tournament. Always aim for something, try to achieve something that’s never been done before.
“Especially with the group we have now, I think we really have a belief that we can qualify. That we can achieve better.
“I totally get that Leigh’s free-kicks against England will define him because it’s something he’ll always remember. But that doesn’t mean you settle for that.
“You can get better moments than that. You can get winners against England and goals that take you to a major tournament.
“I hate talking about the goal I scored against France because it meant nothing – we never qualified.
“The goal I wanted to score was against Italy (in the last game of that campaign) but I missed the chance.
“If that goes in you’re talking about the goal that takes you to qualification for a tournament when you’ve not been for years.
“There is always more. These moments might mean a lot but make it mean something to everybody by helping us qualify – to actually achieve something for Scotland.”
In the meantime it falls on the rest of the squad to get on with the job of trying to secure that long-awaited qualification we crave through the Nations League campaign.
After a positive start with the 2-0 win over Albania last month, Thursday’s clash in Israel offers a big chance for McLeish’s men to take control of the group.
McFadden said: “It’s Leigh’s decision and we’ve got to respect it.
“If he feels he’s not fit enough to be at his best level then that’s fine for us.
“If people are going to interpret it another way then there’s nothing we can do, we can’t control that.
“Leigh’s made the decision and we understand it and we move on. We are not pandering to a guy who is not going to be here.
“We have to concentrate on the guys that are here. The last game we played, he never started and we did all right.
“We’ve got to look forward so we concentrate on the players we have for a massive game coming up on Thursday. Our focus is on that.”
We move on. We are not pandering to a guy who is not going to be here JAMES McFADDEN ON GRIFFITHS’S WITHDRAWAL