Strachan banks on Tierney being ready to face challenge

KIERAN TIERNEY will tomorrow morning be fitted for any Auld Enemy armour his smashed mouth may require as Gordon Strachan banks on the Celtic starlet’s ‘street mentality’ to set the tone for the build-up to next Saturday’s game against England at Hampden.

The full-back has jetted back into Glasgow after a short break following Celtic’s clinching of the Treble, to meet up with the national squad and undergo a medical assessment aimed at making his broken jaw sturdy enough to withstand the Battle-of-Britain hostilities.

Strachan believes there is little doubt Tierney will take a hit on the injury he sustained from Jayden Stockley’s elbow in the Scottish Cup final during the World Cup qualifier. But he fully expects the 19-year-old, who could wear a specially designed gumshield, to stand up to any more ill-timed contact.

‘He goes for an assessment at 8.30 on Monday morning,’ reported Strachan at the Scotland team hotel last night.

‘What he needs to protect him will be down to the people Kieran is seeing right now. How to train, when to train.

‘We’ll let Kieran get on with it and not pressurise him at all. Anything our doctor and the Celtic doctor say, we will do. We don’t make any decisions on people’s fitness.

‘It’s not easy when you get smacked on the face. When you come back to training, you’re kind of ducking and diving.

‘That injury can be severely painful at the time. But it won’t get any worse over time. It’s a protection thing after that.

‘Kieran managed to make it back (from hospital) to run up the steps and get the Cup. That’s what adrenaline does for you, the excitement of his team winning.

‘It’s a certainty what will happen next week. He will get banged on the face somewhere along the line — but he has a real street mentality when it comes to playing football.

‘He likes making tackles. Kieran’s important because he’s not scared of anybody but he’s not arrogant.

‘He’s an old-fashioned defender.

He goes forward but, like the top defenders in the world, he understands that defending is his job first. Then attack after you do that.’

Strachan admitted he has minor concerns regarding the overall standard of fitness of a handful of English Championship players who are set to link up tomorrow.

Ikechi Anya, Russell Martin, Steven Naismith, Charlie Mulgrew and Christophe Berra last played either Sunday, May 7 or earlier and will be straight into a 36-hour regime in an attempt to bring them up to the levels of their team-mates.

Premier League men Darren Fletcher, Robert Snodgrass, James Morrison and James McArthur played on until May 21, while his Celtic and Aberdeen stars contested ‘a right good Cup final’ last Saturday.

Fitness alone won’t guarantee a piece of the action on Saturday but recent know-how of the opponent will play a part in determining who Strachan selects to face England.

‘Another thing you take into consideration is who knows the players you are playing against?’ said Strachan.

‘So what’s our team going to be? Have they all played against that level? The Celtic players faced that playing Manchester City in the Champions League. Lads who’ve played in the Premier League.

‘It’s not an unknown force they are playing against. It’s something that won’t surprise them. It’s not a good place for a surprise, the middle of Hampden.’