Cads says Stuglis hack could have been final straw

MOTHERWELL star Chris Cadden admitted he’s extremely lucky he didn’t suffer a serious injury that would have ruined his chances of playing in this month’s Betfred Cup final against Celtic after a shocking lunge from Latvia’s Ingars Stuglis.

Scotland were held to a disappointing draw by the Baltic nation, which could severely damage their hopes of qualifying for the European Championships in Italy and San Marino in 2019. But it could have been much worse for Cadden and his country.

Scot Gemmill’s side required an injury-time equaliser after a very soft penalty award given for pulling against Scott McKenna, the Aberdeen defender, which was converted by Rangers’ Ryan Hardie to rescue a point against a side they had comfortably beaten 2-0 in their homeland last month.

But Cadden was even more fortunate he didn’t suffer a horrific injury after an absolute leg-breaker of a lunge out of nowhere from Stuglis, who plays for homeland outfit Spartaks Jurmala.

With Motherwell flying high and a Betfred Cup final against Celtic to come, Cadden was a relieved man to come out of it unscathed and he admitted he lost his cool after it.

He said: “The tackle on me was a bit ridiculous. I lost my head a wee bit and I’ve never lost my head in my life. I just saw red.

“Luckily enough it hit my shin pad. You can’t tackle like that below the knee, it’s a dangerous tackle and I would never ever go in to a tackle on another professional like that. If he had gone for the ball and I had touched it away from him it would be fine, but he was nowhere near the ball.

“I don’t really know who the guy is, but I said a few things after the tackle. I’ll keep that to myself though. It’s a bad tackle but I’m fine thankfully and no damage, so it’s fine.”

Cadden admits he is relishing playing Celtic at the end of the month at Hampden.

He said: “I can’t wait. I’ve been talking about it for ages while I’ve been away, texting the boys and that and there is a really good feeling about the place. Obviously there is a big game on Saturday against Aberdeen as well as the cup final so we are really looking forward to it.”

Scotland face Ukraine tomorrow in Perth too and Cadden believes Gemmill’s boys will take confidence from salvaging a point. Hearts’ John Souttar is unlikely to feature after spending a night in hospital for concussion as a precautionary measure.

He said: “Ukraine are a good team with good players and they play at a high level. We’ve just got to go out and if we play like we did in that second half we will go out and beat anybody.

“I don’t know if the Latvia game is a blow because it could be an important point at the end. It’s a good change of pace for us as well playing a different style of football.

“You can tell the difference between the Premiership and international football so it’s good for me and my development.”