CLARKE TO FACE ANXIOUS WAIT FOR HIS OLD FIRM STARS
SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke will be sweating over the fitness of his Old Firm players after it emerged they will now be playing for their clubs just four days before the crunch Euro 2020 play-off with Israel. The national team boss was dealt a blow yesterday when Celtic and Rangers’ last Premiership fixtures before the international break were rescheduled because of the Glasgow rivals’ Europa League progress. In a bid to give Clarke extra preparation time ahead of the semi-final at Hampden on Thursday, October 8, the SPFL had originally scheduled a full set of top-flight fixtures for next Friday night.
However, Celtic’s win over Riga in Latvia and Rangers’ defeat of Willem II in Holland on Thursday has now come at a cost to the Scotland manager. The Glasgow clubs will take part in a Europa League play-off round tie next Thursday, October 1, with Rangers hosting Turkish side Galatasaray and Celtic travelling to Bosnia to face FK Sarajevo. That means the Premiership match between Steven Gerrard’s team and Ross County at Ibrox will now take place on Sunday, October 4.
Likewise, Celtic’s televised trip to St Johnstone has been moved from 8.15pm on Friday night to noon a week tomorrow. The fixture rescheduling means key Scotland players like Celtic’s Ryan Christie, James Forrest and Callum McGregor will have less rest time ahead of the showdown with Israel. Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack and goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin were both in Clarke’s last squad but Jack is set to miss the Israel game because of a calf injury. There are also six EPL fixtures scheduled for Sunday, October 4, with John McGinn’s Aston Villa, Kieran Tierney’s Arsenal and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson among those involved. Other
Scotland players like Lawrence Shankland of Dundee United, Livingston’s on-loan Rangers keeper Robby McCrorie and Motherwell pair Declan Gallagher and Stephen O’Donnell will all benefit from their club’s fixture being scheduled for the Friday night. However, none of that group featured on the pitch in the last international double-header, against Israel and Czech Republic, albeit Tannadice forward Shankland was injured. Should Scotland get past the Israelis at Hampden they would then face an away play-off final against the victors of the other semi-final between Norway and Serbia. The winner of the final will take their place at the rescheduled Euro 2020 next summer — with some matches taking place at Hampden. If the Scots do manage to qualify for the tournament, it would be our first appearance at a major finals since the World Cup in France in 1998. But the rearranged Old Firm league games are sure to be a blow for Clarke as he aims to end the nation’s 23-year spell in the international wilderness.