The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mellon says Shankland is perfect for spot-kicks
Dundee United boss Micky Me l lon insists he always knew L awrence Shankland would score his Scotland spot-kick.
The Tannadice frontman was fourth up for the Scots in their nerve-shredding shoot-out against Israel at Hampden on Thursday night.
While the Tartan Army chewed their finger nails at home in front of the TV when the game finished 0-0 after extra-time, Mellon was relaxed with his feet up as he just knew his star man wasn’t going to let himself or the nation down.
Shankland duly picked his spot and the stage was then set for midfielder Kenny McLean to make it 5-3 to the hosts to spark wild celebrations.
Now the country can look forward to the play-off final against Serbia in Belgrade on November 12 to see if Scotland can reach the Euros. Mellon said: “I was always confident he would score. Lawrence is cool under pressure and he is the kind of person you want in those situations.
“I wasn’t surprised he put himself forward to take a kick as he is comfortable in that environment.
“It was brilliant for the country as there was so much pressure on the manager and the players to deliver.
“Our history hasn’t been great getting to the tournaments but we have given ourselves the chance now. We are 90 minutes away and it’s going to be a huge game for the country.
“We love our football in Scotland and we have spent too many years watching how everyone else is doing.
“It would be great if we could get there and show everyone what we have got to offer.
“This is a football-mad country so the pressure on the players has been huge, so I was delighted for Lawrence, the rest of the guys and for (manager) Steve Clarke.”
International duty, of course, will take Shankland away from his club but Me l l o n is genuinely delighted to have a United player competing on such a stage.
He said: “I would never discourage anyone from going to play for their country because it’s such a major thing. Playing for Scotland is the ultimate.
“Going to represent your country is the biggest thing you can do for yourself as a player and for your family.
“We are delighted as a club to have a player there involved in trying to get Scotland to the Euros.
“I’m an old romantic about football so we love to help Scotland. We also think we can produce players good enough for the national team in the years ahead so hopefully Lawrence won’t be the only one in future.”
Scotland face Slovakia back at Hampden Park tomorrow and Czech Republic next week but eyes will inevitably be cast towards the Serbia clash.
All the hype around that game was around Norway, with wunderkid Erling Ha a l a n d spearheading their charge back to the tournament arena – but it was Serbia’s talisman that dragged his team over the line, Sergej MilinkovicSavic scoring twice to book their final place.
Manager Clarke said:
“The play- off game next month is one to look forward to after we have these next two games. Hopefully we can go there on the back of another two positive results from the matches here at Hampden.”
Meanwhile Clarke has added uncapped trio Andy Considine, Ross McCrorie and Paul McGinn to his squad for the Nations League double-header.
Considine, 33, is a former U21 international who has spent his entire club career with Aberdeen. Hibernian full-back McGinn, 29, joins his brother, Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, in the squad.