Boruc a benchmark of strength in Polish ranks

MATT RITCHIE admits the fact Poland can afford to leave his club-mate Artur Boruc on the bench is testament to how tough Thursday’s Euro 2016 showdown is going to be. Ritchie was not assimilated into the fold in time for Scotland’s two recent fixtures against the Poles, but he has an insight into the quality of the opposition’s goalkeeping stock. Boruc (left) initially joined Bournemouth on loan from Southampton last term and was such a key part of the Cherries’ Championshipwinning team that he was tied up on a permanent deal by Eddie Howe before the start of the Premier League campaign.

Although Boruc has been named in Adam Nawalka’s squad for this week’s game at Hampden, he is unlikely to play thanks to the presence of Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny, who kept goal in the teams’ 2-2 draw earlier in the campaign and also the Scots’ 1-0 win in a Warsaw friendly in March 2014.

Ritchie knows his team-mate, now 35, is looking forward to returning to Glasgow, where he enjoyed a successful five-year spell with Celtic.

‘Myself and Artur have spoken about it in the dressingroom and he’s assured me it’s a big game for Poland as well,’ said Ritchie. ‘He’s looking forward to it as much as I am.

‘He is fantastic within the group and is always one to joke and keep things upbeat.

‘Last season he played a huge part in our promotion. He came in and kept a load of clean sheets, which gave us a platform.

‘You could immediately sense his big-game experience. He has a presence about him and the fact he’s played at the World Cup and in the Champions League told us all we needed to know about what we were getting.

‘If he plays for Poland next week then, hopefully, he doesn’t have such a great game. If he doesn’t, then that really does show you just how good Poland’s options are.’