McLeish but wishing his effort hadn’t been called offside
showing against Israel in Haifa and went with a four man rather than a three man defence.
That meant that Callum Paterson, who has been playing up front for Cardiff City in the Premier League down in England, had to play at right back in the absence of both Stephen O’Donnell of Kilmarnock and Kieran Tierney of Celtic.
But the former Hearts man, who has extensive experience of the position from his time at Tynecastle, is unconcerned about how the national team lines up and will be delighted to get the nod once again tomorrow regardless of what tactics the manager decides on.
“I don’t know about the back three or four situation,” he said. “I play back three for my club, but everyone’s played in back threes or fives, I don’t think it’s a problem for anyone to step into a back three or back four.”
Meanwhile, Callum Paterson last night admitted that he felt his performance at right-back against Albania was poor – and revealed he would prefer to be deployed in a more advanced position for Scotland in future.
Paterson, who has been playing in attack for Cardiff City in the Premier League in England this season, was moved into defence after both Stephen O’Donnell and Kieran Tierney pulled out injured.
“It’s been a long time since I played right-back,” he said. “It’s not my favourite position. It’s one of my least favourite positions to be honest. But I’m happy to do a job wherever I’m asked, though.
“Grezda was a handful, but you have to look after yourself. I didn’t really do that in the first 15 to 20 minutes. I got in to the game as it wore on though. There was a bit of ring rust.
It wasn’t getting chucked in at the deep end, but it’s not something I’ve done for a long time. I was happy to help the team in any way I can.”