Andy Robertson could still play for Scotland over Celtic man Kieran Tierney

Add as preferred source on Google

Scotland coach Peter Grant has stated that Andy Robertson could yet feature for Scotland despite initially seeming to pull out.

The Liverpool man is going for an operation for an abscess in his mouth. It was originally reported that the operation would mean that he would miss Scotland’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan.

But now it looks as though he could yet be set to return against the Kazakhs anyway.

Speaking ahead of Thursday afternoon’s vital opening match to the BBC, Grant touched on Robertson’s situation.

“The way he is, he is still desperate to play and still trying to get himself back out here as well. That’s why he is the captain.”

A shame for Tierney if this is the case

It was reported earlier on today that Robertson was even offering to pay for his own flight. He still clearly has plans to make the opening qualifier regardless of his operation.

And that must be a slight frustration for Kieran Tierney. He’ll still feature in some capacity most likely. Whether that be at centre-back or right-back, the Celtic hero should still feature against the Kazakhs given how highly he’s rated.

But there’s no denying you lose a lot from him by not playing him in his natural position. Under Gordon Strachan, he had to get used to playing as Scotland’s right-back. It was clearly an uncomfortable position for him, but he still performed admirably well during the World Cup 2018 qualification campaign.

Under Alex McLeish, however, Tierney has been featuring as a left centre-back. Again, he’s coped well when asked to do so by McLeish too.

Considering Robertson’s stance in the Scotland set-up, it’s difficult to see a way in which Tierney ever usurps him. Robertson is now the Scotland captain, and at the very least he now holds that over the Celtic man.

Regardless of where Tierney plays on Thursday night, he’ll do Scotland proud. But it’s just a shame that it looks as though he may not get the chance to play in his natural position once again.