English failings can all be put down to us
The Tartan Army are still basking in the afterglow of Scotland’s fine performance against England at Wembley.
It was only a draw, but fans around the country celebrated as if their favourites had recorded a famous victory.
Many England fans saw things differently, and that irked John Carver, Scotland’s Newcastle-born assistant coach.
His view is that it was a top display by the visitors, and the players who took
part earned the right to line-up in the last group game against Croatia.
Carver said: “When I look at the England game and the performance we put in, what disappointed me a little bit was people saying how poorly they played.
“But let me tell you something – we made them look so poor because of how we played.
“So when you’ve got a group of players who performed at that level, if you then leave them out for the next one, people will ask why?
“So it’s about trying to find the balance of getting these players on to the pitch.
“It was always going to be difficult after the England performance.”
Billy Gilmour stole the show at Wembley, and his absence from the last Group D match after his positive test for Covid was a big blow.
Carver is anxious not to place too much pressure on the midfielder, and he points to the talents of other youngsters like Celtic’s David Turnbull and Nathan Patterson of Rangers.
“It’s not just about Billy. It’s exciting that we’ve got three or four involved,” he said.
“David didn’t feature, but we saw enough of him in friendlies against Holland and Luxembourg, and spent every day with him on the training pitch.
“Hopefully, these guys will get regular football next season.
“From their experience of being with us at such a young age, I’m sure they’ll benefit from it.
“Nathan is going to find it difficult with James Tavernier at Rangers, and Billy at Chelsea, given the amount of top players they have in that area.
“Hopefully, they’ll get some football, whether they go out on loan or not.
“We’re always out there looking and keeping an eye on them.”