BURN-OUT FEAR FOR TIERNEY
McLeish to rest overworked full-back for Portugal match
SCOTLAND boss Alex McLeish will spare Kieran Tierney a shift against Portugal tonight for fear of risking burn-out in the Celtic defender.
Tierney is one of five players to have dropped out of McLeish’s squad since the 2-1 Nations League defeat to Israel on Thursday night, a game settled when the 21-year-old’s mis-hit clearance beat goalkeeper Allan McGregor for the winning goal.
Tierney’s toil in Haifa represented his 22nd game of the season for club and country, leaving him on course to match the 60-game shift he put in last term.
With the visit of the Portuguese carrying no competitive significance, McLeish has opted to grant Tierney some rest, with the injured Charlie Mulgrew, John Souttar, Robert Snodgrass and Scott McTominay also dropping out.
There could be an international debut against the reigning European champions for Aberdeen defender Mikey Devlin, who has been drafted in alongside club-mate Gary Mackay-Steven and Celtic forward Ryan Christie.
‘We have players who’ve played a lot of games already this season,’ said McLeish. ‘We were prepared to make a concession to Celtic in the summer over Kieran because he is a young guy growing up and has played an enormous amount of games.
‘I remember back to my Aberdeen days with boys like Neale Cooper and Neil Simpson. They played a lot of games at
an extremely young age, and they finished their careers relatively early.
‘We don’t want that to happen to the current crop of players. That’s why Tierney is away back again. The medical team said he had a bit of fatigue, so it was right and proper that he went back to his club.’
Tierney’s absence will allow McLeish to revert to a flat back four, thus resolving one of the main criticisms of the performance in Israel — namely that the 3-5-2 formation chosen to accommodate both he and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson does not suit the wider group.
McLeish has started the same back three in both his competitive matches in charge but with Tierney, Mulgrew and Souttar all missing he may decide to blood the Aberdeen partnership of Devlin and Scott McKenna.
Injury and suspension has meant the duo have only started together twice this season but they have looked solid, conceding a total of two goals, one a penalty against Rangers and the other at Celtic Park.
‘Of course I will consider a back four against Portugal,’ continued McLeish, who also confirmed Craig Gordon would be given the nod to start in goal ahead of Allan McGregor. ‘We have changed to a four during games already and we are adaptable.
‘Mikey was on the fit-for-duty list along with a lot of others. He’s in fresh to the squad, so we welcome him and see how he fits in. He has been doing well with Aberdeen, playing beside big Scott.
‘I tried to be attack-minded in Israel with a 3-4-3, with Callum (McGregor) playing further forward. We just didn’t make it potent enough.
‘I have tried, and will continue to, maximise the best positions for the players. To all intents and purposes Andy is in a role that he performs for Liverpool, where he has big Virgil (van Dijk) behind him and knows he can go up and down that line pressing people.’
Criticised heavily in the wake of Thursday’s defeat to a team ranked 55 places lower in the world rankings, McLeish has vowed to meet the challenge head on.
‘I get it,’ he acknowledged. ‘Finding the perfect niche in this set-up and playing with new players is not easy to do overnight. However, we do need our best players in the team and I’m not playing them hopelessly out of position.
‘It’s not as if they are on the right wing or at centre-forward. I believe that it will work for us.’
Asked if he might eventually have to make a direct choice between Tierney and Robertson for the sake of the team, McLeish urged patience.
‘I wouldn’t be ready to go down that particular road just now,’ he insisted. ‘We have played two competitive games with Andy and Kieran in those positions. One was a victory. One was a loss. Let’s not panic.’
The conclusion of the Nations League schedule will take McLeish’s reign to the ten-game mark — the very point at which he decided to leave at the end of his first spell in charge.
The manner of the defeat in Israel has led to the first murmurings of discontent but he remains bullish.
He added: ‘I know my position will be speculated on and be mooted in the papers, or by fans and on social media.
‘But I’m pretty headstrong and determined to prove that I can always bounce back.’