New boys will be given a chance to make their mark, says McCall
Coach believes Strachan ‘will show no fear’ in giving debutants game time against Scandinavians
TUART McCALL believes Gordon Strachan is poised to hand more of Scotland’s most promising players their debuts in the friendly against Denmark tomorrow evening.
Strachan named several young players who he believes are capable of featuring for their country in the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign in his two 18 man squads for the double header against the Czech Republic and Denmark.
He handed first caps to Paul Caddis of Birmingham City, Kenny McLean of Aberdeen and Tony Watt of Blackburn Rovers during the 1-0 win over the Euro 2016-bound Czechs in Prague last Thursday evening.
Now Liam Bridcutt of Leeds United, Oliver Burke of Nottingham Forest, Liam Cooper of Leeds, John McGinn of Hibs, Jamie Murphy of Brighton and Kieran Tierney of Celtic are all now hoping to be involved in the match at Hampden.
McCall, the Scotland coach, believes Strachan will be keen to see how they perform as he looks towards the opening game in the Russia 2018 qualifying campaign against Malta away in Valletta in September.
“We have to take things from the friendlies that we play,” he said. “In the first campaign Ikechi Anya came on the scene, then last time it was Matt Ritchie and Andy Robertson. Hopefully there will be another couple who are not only pushing to get in the squad, but also pushing to be in Gordon’s starting eleven.
“What was good in training is that we had Shaun Maloney, Scott Brown and Steven Whittaker setting the tempo and everyone else followed suit. McGinn, Murphy, Burke, the two Leeds lads Bridcutt and Cooper.
“I made my debut at 26 and it took me time to get settled, but these boys were straight in. It’s one thing doing well in training, now they have to take it into games. But they can make a mark ahead of the next campaign.”
McCall added: “Oli Burke is 6ft 2ins tall, big, strong, powerful, quick. Speaking to people down in England, it seems there are clubs sniffing about him at Forest. The Scottish-based players might not have known him before, but he showed up well.
“The boy Burke got the ball, knocked it by somebody and left them for dead. We ain’t got that. We have got pace, but not pace and power.
“Then you have Kieran Tierney who looks like he has always been about the place. John McGinn was similar, all of them in fact. It’s good. I wouldn’t like to pinpoint one.
“I think the manager would play them. I don’t think he would hesitate. I think to play a Kieran Tierney and a Jamie Murphy together or a Kieran Tierney and Liam Cooper in the same area of the park might be difficult. You would probably need a bit of experience with one.
“But I would think there would be no doubt that a couple of lads will be given a go. I don’t think there will be any fear from Gordon to do it.”
Tierney has, despite being just 18, has established himself as a first team regular at Celtic this season and has excelled in domestic matches as well as in the Europa League. McCall can understand why the left back has done so well.
“The first time I saw him up close and personal, I could tell he was the son of Broony,” he said. “He had his shirt sleeves rolled up while everyone else was freezing. He is definitely styling his clothing on his captain. That is no bad thing.
“He’s not over-confident and arrogant, not at all, but he has belief, he wants the ball and he has been telling Grant Hanley to give him the ball. That is good. When I was first called up I was 26. I was just happy to be there, to take a throw-in now and again.
“I can remember Gary McAllister came in at the same time as me. Craig Brown said: ‘Can anyone take freekicks?’ Gary Mac pushed Gordon out of the way and said ‘I’ll do it!’ I was a bit shy. I was just happy to take a throw-in.
“But, yeah, Tierney made an impression with his enthusiasm and his willingness to get on the ball. McGinn, Burke, Bridcutt in the middle of the park, everyone who has come in has looked good. They couldn’t have done any more.
“John McGinn, for example. From, the time the manager came up here to join the under-21s for four days training. Now, obviously John has had a couple of good games against Hearts, has had a decent season.
“But Gordon has made up his mind from what he has seen in those training sessions that he was going to be in the next squad. Gordon will do what he thinks is right if somebody catches his eye.”
Scotland are, after finishing fourth in Group D and failing to secure even a play-off place in Euro 2016 qualifying, the only one of the Home Nations who will not be in France this summer. McCall admitted it would be hard to watch England, Northern Ireland and Wales in action in the tournament.
Strachan is, though, determined for the national team to treat this game against Denmark and the friendlies with both Italy in May and France in June seriously ahead of the start of their bid to reach Russia 2018.
“It might be difficult for us to get the supporters up for anything at this moment in time,” he said. “But on the playing side that is the key.
“We want to get a friendly mentality out. Even if you have 30 or 40 caps, every time you pull a jersey on it is a privilege. Go and make a mark on it, don’t treat it as a friendly. Make sure you are in that first squad for the qualifiers.
“Even if we go and beat Denmark 2-0 or 3-0, I don’t think we are going to grasp the nation. I wish we could fast forward into the qualifiers, but we can’t.
‘When we go and play those friendlies in June, and everyone else it preparing for the Euros, it will be tough mentally. But in our little circle, we have got to make sure these lads have a clear message about what we are after.”