Celtic and Scotland left-back Kieran Tierney looks highly likely to get his shot at left-back for his country after all.
After a two-day wait regarding the availability of captain and first-choice left-back Andy Robertson, a decision has finally been confirmed. The Liverpool man will now meet up with Scotland AFTER our nation’s game in Kazakhstan on Thursday night.
It puts to bed the question of whether Tierney will get his opportunity. He remains the only real quality alternative at left-back, and he looks likely to feature there on Thursday night.
Tierney still likely would’ve played regardless. Under Alex McLeish, however, he’s had to get used to a left centre-back role at international level. It hasn’t been ideal, but Robertson’s stock with Liverpool has grown rapidly over the last couple of years.
This also comes after a period of time playing at right-back under previous Scotland boss Gordon Strachan. Scotland have so often tried to shoehorn both Robertson and Tierney into the same side. The Celtic man, however, has proved himself as the more adaptable of the two.
Don’t expect to see it consistently
Unfortunately, it likely doesn’t matter how well Tierney performs. Robertson’s reputation, plus the fact he’s the Scotland captain, will surely see him retake his place against San Marino.
Robertson isn’t ruled out for Scotland’s second game of the upcoming double-header, and the captaincy is enough of a reason for McLeish to throw him back into his slot when he’s available.
But for Tierney, this is a nice bonus. Too often are Scotland not getting the best of him by not playing him at left-back. Picking between the pair, however, isn’t an enviable decision.
Hopefully the game-time at international level can also help Tierney push his performance levels up too. In recent weeks, he’s been a tad hesitant to go beyond Scott Sinclair on the overlap. Whether he can show what he’s truly capable of in Kazakhstan remains to be seen.
It’s not exactly a one-off, but don’t expect to see Tierney out on the left consistently in a dark blue jersey.
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