Captain salutes new recruit

IF any members of the Tartan Army are a little unfamiliar with what new Scotland recruit Che Adams can bring to the party, then captain Andy Robertson is well qualified to fill them in on the new man at Steve Clarke’s disposal.

Robertson has come up against Adams at club level, attempting to contain the Southampton striker with Liverpool, and he says that the 24-year-old has always kept him and his illustrious teammates busy.

The Scotland skipper is excited to see if he can translate his recent fine form in the English Premier League onto the international stage, and add to the strength in depth that the national team are now enjoying in what has been a problem area in the past.

“I’ve played against Che,” Robertson said. “He’s a handful and he has a lot of qualities. He has shown that at Southampton.

“To have him involved in the squad is excellent. In training, he has been excellent and that adds to the quality we’ve got.

“Lyndon [Dykes], since he has become a Scotland player, has been excellent. [Oli] McBurnie works so hard and shows his quality. You’ve also got (Ryan) Christie and Ryan Fraser. All of a sudden, you’ve got so many options that you can pick.

“Look, Che is a fantastic player. I know the problems he can cause defences. Hopefully he can do that in a Scotland shirt as well.”

It isn’t only in attack though that Robertson feels there is a greater pool of talent for manager Clarke to delve into these days.

“We had a big overhaul under the previous manager and we seem to have got a kind of nucleus again,” he said. “The gaffer’s calling up quality. “I was looking today at both teams in training and there’s quality all over the pitch, both teams.

“So, it’s about trying to make that quality count and bringing it all together to becoming a good team.”