RIGHT BACK to the drawing board
Steve Clarke has been left with a huge Euro 2024 headache as he looks at replacements for injured stars Hickey and Patterson
SUCH has been the settled look to the Scotland squad over these past couple of years, the notion of Steve Clarke making any leftfield selection calls has always felt misplaced.
Consistency in selection became one of the key factors in helping propel the team towards qualification for Euro 2024.
Yet, with less than a month to go until Scotland kick off the tournament against hosts Germany in Munich, Clarke has been forced back to the drawing board in one key position.
While the rest of the squad is likely to have a familiar and predictable look to it, last night’s confirmation that injured pair Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson will miss the finals has left him with no choice in terms of seeking new options at right-back.
The Scotland manager will name a provisional squad for the Euros tomorrow, with two warm-up games against Gibraltar and Finland still to come early next month.
The identity of who starts at right wing-back against Germany on June 14 is now likely to be the focus of much debate and scrutiny. In an ideal world, Scotland would have had Hickey fully fit and firing ahead of that mouthwatering showdown with Julian Nagelsmann’s side.
The 21-year-old emerged as a key player during the qualification campaign, offering a dynamic threat on the right side of the pitch. However, the hamstring injury that wrecked his season with Brentford has now done the same to his prospects of playing in the Euros.
Speaking about Hickey earlier this month, Brentford boss Thomas Frank said: ‘No, we’re not going to see him this season. I’m not the manager of Scotland, but I don’t think it is positive (in terms of the Euros).’
Given his importance to the national side, Hickey’s absence will undoubtedly be a major blow to Clarke (below).
Throughout Hickey’s rise to prominence, Everton’s Patterson looked like he would be a solid and able deputy on the right flank. Now the 22-year-old has also been ruled out following surgery on a hamstring injury.
So where does Clarke turn now as he seeks to repair this major d a m a g e to the right side of the team? Celtic’s Anthony Ralston has been involved in squads before and is a player Clarke knows well. Despite not being a first-choice at club level, the 25-year-old is a safe bet to be on the plane to Germany.
However, it has been the performances of Ralston’s Celtic team-mate James Forrest over these last few weeks of the season which have set tongues wagging with regard to his chances of a Scotland recall.
Forrest has been back to his very best form over recent weeks, scoring some key goals to help fire the Parkhead side to another league title.
While it is by no means his natural position, Forrest spoke last week of how he would relish the chance of putting in a shift for Scotland as a right wing-back. It has been three years since he won his last cap, but the 32-year-old has emerged as a late bolter to force his way back into Clarke’s squad.
The vast experience of Forrest will tick another box in his favour, but the national team boss will be looking at alternative options.
Over these past two seasons with Kilmarnock, Danny Armstrong has been one of the best wide players in the country.
The 26-year-old’s versatility will surely help his cause, playing as a wing-back or a natural winger as Killie have switched between a 3-5-2 and a 4-4-2 throughout a campaign which has seen them qualify for Europe. To suggest he would go straight into the Scotland team after no previous involvement would perhaps be stretching things, but there’s no doubt he would offer a solid option as a squad player.
Forrest and Armstrong look to be the two main contenders in terms of form players forcing their way into the reckoning, but Max Johnston is another possible candidate in terms of a right wingback. Now plying his trade for Sturm Graz, the former Motherwell man was celebrating a league and cup double last weekend in his first season with the Austrian side.
The 20-year-old would be a more natural option as a wing-back than Forrest or Armstrong and has been backed for a call-up by Richard Foster.
A former right-back himself, former Aberdeen and Rangers star Foster worked with Johnston as a coach when he was coming through the ranks at Motherwell.
‘We’ve gone from a position of real strength in that area to coming up with a name to put in,’ Foster told the BBC. ‘I think his (Johnston’s) physical attributes are very impressive.
‘I think, physically, he can go and compete at that level. Quick, strong, powerful. He came back to Motherwell and he transformed himself into a machine.
‘He was brilliant — great pace, great energy, great change of direction and change of speed. Technically, he’s good enough, but I still think there is more improvement (to come) from him. He’s relatively young.
‘He plays for the Under-21s, he’s in and around it. Why not (take him to the Euros)? We’re taking 26 players. Steve Clarke will be considering him, I would imagine.’
Earlier in Clarke’s reign, there was a time when left-back Kieran Tierney would occasionally be
utilised as a makeshift right wing-back. That was largely just an attempt to shoehorn himself and Andy Robertson into the same team, an issue solved more successfully by deploying Tierney on the left side of a back three with Robertson outside him.
With Tierney now fit again for Real Sociedad following an injury scare, it feels highly unlikely that Clarke will break up that Robertson/Tierney partnership on the left.
Disrupting one highly proficient and productive area of the team to solve another problem feels counter-productive.
These issues will be at the forefront of Clarke’s thoughts over the next few weeks, as the tournament opener comes sharply into focus.
A right-back himself during his playing career, Clarke might even consider dusting off the boots. We’re not quite at that stage just yet, but Plan A will have been torn up long ago.