Fearless colts fill Fletcher with wonder
AS a Scotland player over the last ten years, Steven Fletcher has grown wearily accustomed to post-mortems. On a fraught Tuesday evening at a rain-soaked Hampden, he watched from the bench, fearing the death of another qualifying campaign was imminent.
Scotland had been 3-1 up on Israel through a James Forrest hat-trick but then Eran Zahavi struck to set up a tense finale.
With three minutes remaining, Alex McLeish sent on Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay for the veteran Fletcher.
The Sheffield Wednesday forward then watched through the cracks in his fingers as Allan McGregor’s stunning last-gasp save stopped Tomer Hemed crushing Scottish dreams.
And he was impressed by how his ‘fearless’ young colleagues held on to secure a first play-off since 2003.
Asked if he could feel the tension as the match came to its conclusion, Fletcher said: ‘I was probably the one creating the tension on the bench when I came off.
‘I was sitting there thinking: “I have seen this a lot of times before in my Scotland career — not again!”.
‘I was watching through my fingers but we held on in the end.
‘These boys have no fear. I was actually the oldest outfield player against Israel, which is a little bit strange.
‘And when you saw big Scott McKenna striding out from the back at the end, that shows the confidence these young boys have.
‘We have a good group of young boys here who are very talented. The fans should look forward to what these boys have got to offer.’
Before scoring in Saturday’s 4-0 win in Albania, Fletcher last played for Scotland in the 2-2 draw in Slovenia that closed Gordon Strachan’s reign in October 2017.
Injuries to Steven Naismith and Leigh Griffiths saw McLeish send Fletcher an SOS and he was outstanding in both Group C1 wins.
The 31-year-old, who has struggled with a knee injury this season, admitted that he felt his chance of reaching a major finals with Scotland had gone. But now he hopes to be part of a bright future under McLeish.
‘Probably for me personally, I thought it was gone,’ he nodded.
‘I have just come back from knee surgery. Apart from my ankle, I have never really had major injuries.
‘So I thought that was me and I would just try to get back to club level and see how I go from there.
‘But I have come back into the Scotland set-up and while I wouldn’t say I am a new man, I feel very strong and fitter than I have been.
‘It was good to be back playing and — I think — playing well.
‘I would like to stay involved as long as I can stay fit and sharp. As long as I feel I can offer something to the national team, I will be happy to keep going.’
The dark clouds that were hanging over McLeish have now drifted and his Scotland side will enter the traditional Euro 2020 qualifiers full of sunny optimism. Fletcher insists they
have to forget that they have already banked a play-off through topping their Nations League group. ‘It is surreal to think we have two chances at qualifying but we have to put this play-off to the back of our minds,’ he said. ‘Yes, we know we have it as a kind of safety net but we want to make our own way. We need to try to qualify automatically. That is the goal. ‘So I don’t think it will affect anything in terms of our mindset. ‘If you can qualify before the play-off then you’re obviously going to try to do that. ‘I think the manager will send us out that way anyway. He will tell these young boys to go and grasp the opportunity and they will try their hardest.’