Gilmour an injury doubt for Ukraine play-off tie
BILLY GILMOUR is facing a race against time to be fit for Scotland’s vital World Cup play-off with Ukraine. The on-loan Norwich City midfielder is suffering with an ankle problem and has returned to parent club Chelsea for further assessments. Gilmour could now be a doubt for the Hampden showdown with the Ukrainians, which is less than two weeks away on June 1. The 20-year-old looks certain to miss Norwich’s final Premier League game of the season tomorrow when they host Tottenham at Carrow Road. Scotland boss Steve Clarke
will be praying the young playmaker makes a speedy recovery, with the squad set to be named on Monday. Gilmour has emerged as a key player over the past year and has been an influential figure in the midfield along with the likes of John McGinn and Callum McGregor. But he has endured a tough season at club level as part of a Norwich team who sit bottom of the table and have already been relegated. Canaries boss Dean Smith said: ‘Billy rolled his ankle and went back to Chelsea for an assessment. We will wait and see whether he comes back or not.’ Clarke already has injury concerns in defence, with Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney and Everton’s Nathan Patterson both recovering from knee and ankle surgery respectively. The Ukrainians, meanwhile, have been training in Slovenia and have played a series of friendly matches over the past couple of weeks as they continue preparations for the play-off. The winners play Wales in the final in Cardiff on June 5. Meanwhile, Premier Sports have won the rights to show Scotland internationals for the next two years. The current broadcast deal with Sky Sports ends after the World Cup play-offs in two weeks’ time. Despite striking a deal to show England qualifiers, Channel 4 made no attempt to offer coverage of games involving other home nations free-to-air. Following fears there would be a TV blackout of Scotland’s Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Armenia, Premier Sports have now stepped into the breach. As well as broadcasting today’s Scottish Cup final between Hearts and Rangers live, they also hold the rights to the League Cup. However, at a time of soaring household costs, it means fans wanting to watch international games will be forced to add yet another subscription service to their Sky and BT Sports packages. To soften the blow, Premier Sports will offer three Scotland matches free-to-air in the next two years and show free highlights packages of all fixtures after the final whistle. UEFA have already sold the rights to Scotland games from 2024 to 2028 to Nordic broadcasters Viaplay. SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: ‘It is an exciting time for the Scotland men’s national team and we are pleased to welcome Premier Sports as the broadcast partner of the national side to grow their existing domestic Scottish football coverage.’