Kazakh horror show hasn’t put Shinnie off taking left-back berth

Graeme Shinnie could be forgiven for never wanting to play left-back again.

On his first competitive Scotland start in Kazakhstan, the Derby County man deputised for Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney.

Shinnie was brutally honest about his own performance in a position that had long since ceased to be his regular one in club football, wondering whether he would get a chance to play for Scotland again after the 3-0 humiliation.

But, back in the squad and with Robertson and Tierney missing again (and Greg Taylor not seeing much action at Celtic) the former Aberdeen man would gladly fill in at full-back once more.

“I’ll play wherever the manager wants,” said Shinnie. “I’d play in goals if he wanted me to.

“I want to play as much as I can. Naturally I would like to play in the middle because that’s where I have been playing for the last four or five years.

“But if the chance came up to play somewhere else, I would definitely do it. I would look at what I need to do better and try and do it.”

Shinnie has insisted that the scars of Kazakhstan have healed.

“It was just one of those nights,” he reflected.

“It was the whole team. Sometimes if it’s only one or two the team can carry you through, but it was a bad night in general.

“I’ve been involved in many a bad night in football and will probably have many to come. It’s what happens in football. You can’t play well in every single game. You are going to have times that test you.

“I had a testing start to my career in Derby but came through that and now I’m playing well.

“There is nothing still there. It was a bad night, I took the criticism at the time. You have to get over it and move on.”

Shinnie has had to overcome adversity to become a Derby starter, with the early signs pointing towards a very short stay in the Midlands. Signed by Frank Lampard, he never got the chance to play under the now Chelsea boss. And it didn’t look like he was going to get much game-time for Phillip Cocu either.

“It was frustrating,” Shinnie admitted. “Going down to a new club was always going to be difficult, with a new manager coming in and a good squad of players.

“I wasn’t getting any chances. I wasn’t even coming off the bench and some games I was watching from the stands. It was tough. But I kept my head down and worked as hard as I could to try and force my way in.

“Eventually I got a chance and took it well. Luckily I have played six games since. I could never foresee what would happen with Lampard leaving and everything else.

“But there was a stage when I thought if I’m not going to play here then I’ll go and play somewhere else. It’s football. It’s what happens.

“If one manager doesn’t want you, someone else somewhere else will.

“Obviously when the window closed I knew I would be here until January anyway, so it was just a case of getting my head down and working as hard as I could.

“It’s important I keep building on what I’ve started and try and keep my place.

“When I wasn’t playing, I was watching and trying to take it all and getting better in training every day.

“I think all that set me up for being there to take my chance.

“I know it’s a tough league and injuries come about. That’s a big part of how I got my chance because Tom Huddlestone got injured at Derby when I was watching from the stands.”

“I want to play as much as I can. Naturally I would like to play in the middle because that’s where I have been playing for the last four or five years

GRAEME SHINNIE

Graeme Shinnie insists the scars of Kazakhstan have healed.