Andy’s agony over missing Scots duty

Dyer disputes claims some Scots stars are simply opting out of dead rubbers

SCOTLAND captain Andy Robertson insists he had no choice but to withdraw from international duty against Cyprus and Kazakhstan for his own longer-term well-being. The Liverpool left-back expressed deep disappointment at being forced to miss the Euro 2020 qualifying dead-rubbers with a niggling ankle injury that was further aggravated in Sunday’s win over Manchester City. At his request, Robertson will stay with the camp and receive treatment before returning south to Merseyside when Steve Clarke’s squad fly to Cyprus tomorrow. He is one of four players to pull out, alongside Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay,

FOR long enough, Scotland managers bemoaned a lack of English Premier League performers to pick from. By last night, it felt as though Steve Clarke was paying the price for suddenly having too many. Arsenal had already made sure £25million signing Kieran Tierney would play no part in the Euro 2020 qualifiers with Cyprus and Kazakhstan, while Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson, Ryan Fraser of Bournemouth, Scott McTominay of Manchester United also withdrew yesterday on the grounds of injury, along with Leeds United central defender Liam Cooper. While captain Robertson has shown face at the team hotel to lend support to his teammates, cynicism over the withdrawals of the others is rife. Amongst those who don’t care for Clarke, a conviction is growing that players don’t want to turn up to play for him. Yet the phenomenon of high-earning players from England’s biggest clubs excusing themselves from dead-rubber qualifiers is neither new or unusual. If it happened to Jock Stein, it can happen to Steve Clarke. ‘It’s a blow, of course,’ said assistant manager Alex Dyer. ‘But the boys are injured and go back to their clubs and their medical teams, so they’ll take it from there. ‘I’m not sure about most of them but I know they are serious. ‘In Andy’s case, it’s his ankle. But he’s here and he wants to be here. It’s just waiting to see if he’s ready, not for this game, but the next game against Kazakhstan maybe.’ Sitting no more than ten metres away, Robertson effectively ruled himself out of the revenge mission against the Kazakhs on Tuesday, but insisted he was happy to show his support for team-mates. ‘It’s important that he’s here for the build-up,’ added Dyer. ‘He’s a big part of things here. He’s arguably the best full-back in Europe, if not the world, and we need him around. He’s a good leader.

‘It’s sad he can’t train and play but it’s a good chance for someone else to step up to the plate. Andy wants to be around for a few days.’ Playing down suspicions that some players simply fancied a few days in Dubai to avoid risking expensive limbs in deadrubber games, Dyer insisted: ‘It’s not like they don’t want to be here. That is not the case. They are genuinely injured. ‘It’s part of the game, it’s part of international football. ‘The most important thing is the boys who are here, they want to be here and they want to help Scotland push on and win these two games.’ It’s not unheard of for Scotland withdrawals to walk straight back into their club sides for the next league game, adding to the cynicism surrounding the whole business. Addressing the suspicion that Arsenal vetoed Tierney’s inclusion for no reason other than the fact he hadn’t played much since injury, Dyer added: ‘I don’t know what the arrangement is or if there is an arrangement with Tierney. ‘Obviously we’d love Kieran to be here but he does have problems and the club want him to be there. We have to let that one go.’ As well as injuries, Clarke’s resources have been further decimated by international retirements by the likes of Scott Brown, Allan McGregor, Robert Snodgrass and, as Sportsmail revealed yesterday, Matt Ritchie. ‘It’s disappointing when players retire,’ said Dyer in restrained tones. ‘But that’s their choice.

Snoddy was here for the last camp but he decided he’s calling it a day. ‘There’s nothing more you can do about it. The focus is on the ones who are here. ‘You can only deal with what’s in front of you and the boys who are here will give 100 per cent for their country.’ None of which helps a manager trying to build a team capable of progress through a Nations League play-off in March. When Clarke took over from Alex McLeish, he expressed the hope the players he coached would offer favourable reviews to the refuseniks. Some, he hoped, would come back to the fold. To hold the unwillingness of players like Steven Fletcher to put country before club from time to time is unfair to the new regime.

The problem was already there. ‘It is not personal,’ shrugged Dyer (below). ‘It is never going to be personal, it is football. ‘You pick it and if they don’t want to be here or are injured, then push them aside and take the ones that are here. ‘There is no time for messing around. ‘He (Clarke) knows what it’s about. He knows it’s hard work and there will be disappointments along the way.’ Eyebrows were raised by the decision to call Lewis Morgan in as a late replacement. The Celtic winger’s last start was a Betfred Cup thrashing of Partick Thistle at the end of

September and the fact players like Morgan and Aberdeen’s Mikey Devlin don’t always start for their clubs yet walk into the Scotland squad underlines the depressing dearth of resources available. ‘It is all about standards and who is good,’ explained Dyer. ‘Just because you are not playing for your club does not mean you are a bad player. ‘It just means that club has better players or the manager is picking players he trusts maybe more. ‘It doesn’t mean Lewis is not a good player because he is. ‘I know the boy is buzzing and is glad to be here. That is all you want.’