Martin Keown issues plea about Celtic’s Kieran Tierney after slating ‘toxic’ Hampden Park crowd

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Kieran Tierney is still trying to find his feet for Celtic and Scotland.

Yes, many will point towards the fact that it’s October, but Tierney hasn’t played on a regular basis for two years now, so his Celtic return was always going to be a slow-burner.

That includes not starting for Scotland, which was the case this past week, as Steve Clarke’s side beat Greece and Belarus in crucial World Cup qualifiers.

Tierney came off the bench for both matches, including against Belarus last time out, as a right-back, with Martin Keown sharing his thoughts.

• READ MORE: Meet Kieran Tierney, the Celtic fan favourite who returned to Paradise

Martin Keown sends Kieran Tierney message about ‘toxic’ Hampden as Scotland beat Belarus

Belarus are a minnow nation, but Scotland were lucky to beat them 2-1, as there was a ‘toxic’ atmosphere to Hampden, according to Keown.

The former England defender doesn’t think it’s helpful to the Scotland players, as he sent out a message of advice to the man in the Hampden Park dugout.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Keown thinks Clarke needs to start Tierney, so he can give the Scottish fans ‘something to cheer about.’

“What else is he (Clarke) to say?” asked Keown. “If you hadn’t watched the game, you would have looked at it and said, ‘aren’t Scotland half doing really well.’

“The last two Euros, they have qualified. They haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 1998. That’s a hell of a long time. That pressure seems to weigh heavily on them.

“It’s interesting the contrast with England, where you could say we don’t have great fans, but we have a really good team.

“Their fans against Belarus were hammering the players. It must be toxic to play there. It must be very, very difficult. You can’t even say that because you want that energy behind you, and it wasn’t there from the Scottish supporters. That makes it doubly difficult.

“I know you have to give them something to cheer about. Radically, he (Clarke) needs to look. I think Tierney should be starting. He came off the bench.”

Anthony Ralston under fire…

Aaron Hickey started against Greece, but was injured against Belarus, so that’s why Anthony Ralston was brought into the XI.

After 71 minutes, Ralston was hauled off, with the Celtic man unable to stop wave after wave of Belarus attacks from his side.

That was noted by Keown, who claimed that Celtic’s back-up full-back was ‘struggling’, alongside the open midfield.

“The right-back (Ralston) seemed to be struggling,” added Keown. “They don’t have a secure base in midfield. Every time Belarus attacked, I thought they were going to score. It can’t happen.”