Sunday Mail (UK)

SCOTLAND LATEST

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Andy Robertson reckons he and Kieran Tierney can put their full- back fight to one side and tie down Scotland’s flanks for a generation.

The two lefties have had to do battle with Lee Wallace and Stephen Kingsley in the past year for a solitary slot in Gordon Strachan’s side.

However, last Sunday the door opened to the possibilit­y of them becoming this generation’s Danny McGrain and Sandy Jardine as Celtic teenager Tierney made a successful switch to the right in the 1- 0 World Cup qualifying win over Slovenia.

It may have been a first but Robertson believes it shouldn’t be the last if it means keeping both of them in the side.

With Alan Hutton retired, Phil Bardsley off Strachan’s radar and crocked Callum Paterson expected to be in rehab until at least September, Scotland face a minimum of three fixtures without a regular first-choice right-back.

And after the surprise switch at Hampden, Hull defender Robertson said: “KT did brilliantl­y there.

“He’d been playing there in training all week so we knew early doors he would be starting at right-back.

“I know it’s a wee bit uncomforta­ble for both of us but we’ll do it if it means us playing together.

“We’ll fight for the left-back slot but if one of us has to fill in at right-back then we’ll do that.

“I’ve never played there before. I’ve tried it in training and it’s a wee bit hard to get used to as you’re accustomed to going down the left and everything is the opposite. But I didn’t think Kieran showed that once in the game.

“We’ve both been doing well for our clubs but we’re still young with a lot of learning to do. Hopefully we can do that.

“It’s good to have two experience­d centre-backs in Charlie Mulgrew and Russell Martin to talk us through the game as well. We looked like a solid unit.”

The phrase “must-win” was never far from anyone’s lips ahead of last weekend’s Group F clash, nor will it be any different come the start of June as England prepare to head to Glasgow.

But Robertson insists the pressure should be shouldered by the players not the manager.

The 23-year- old said: “There had been a lot of pressure on him before the game but he never let it show in the week leading up to it.

“He did his usual stuff and we prepared the exact same.

“The pressure was actually all on the players not on the manager. We needed to win and pre-match, the players and the manager, came out and said we needed the three points.

“Sometimes when there’s a bit of extra pressure on your shoulders everyone hides away from it. But in the first half, in the first 10 minutes especial ly, we came out firing.

“Maybe that was because of the pressure and if so we used it to our advantage. We got on the front foot straight away and created chances – and maybe that’s how we need to play. As long as we can continue to do that, hopefully we can pick up more points, especially at home.

“We have a bit of momentum now. A last-minute goal tends to give you that, as does a win, so we can look forward to the England game.

“We knew if we won last Sunday’s game we would only be one point behind Slovenia regardless of the other results so that was always the incentive.” The big “what if…?” last weekend was whether Strachan would have walked in the wake of anything other than three points.

But Robertson said: “You can’t think about that.

“I’ve played in teams where the manager h a s b e en under pressure and it’s the last thing

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