Stephen McGinn talks up unsung Celtic player who’s been told he’s ‘not good enough’ to play for Scotland

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Many Celtic fans will be glad to see the back of the international break and welcome the resumption of domestic duty this weekend.

With Brendan Rodgers preparing his side to face Hearts, the fallout of the Scotland results over the last two weeks continues.

Celtic defender, Anthony Ralston, was involved in both of Scotland’s narrow defeats to Poland and Portugal and whilst he performed well against the Poles, the penalty the Celtic defender conceded will probably still be playing on his mind.

But looking at Ralston, you would never guess if it was or not as he always seems calm and measured especially in the face of constant criticism according to Stephen McGinn.

Anthony Ralston is a role model to young players

Ralston’s Celtic story is one that supporters love. A fan of the club, the defender is living the dream of progressing from the academy to pulling on the green and white Hoops against the likes of Barcelona and Rangers.

However, now a backup to Alistair Johnston at Celtic and Aaron Hickey for Scotland, McGinn believes that Ralston is ‘a credit to himself’ after facing some unfair criticism recently.

McGinn told The Go Radio Football Show, “I have to say, for what Anthony Ralston goes through in terms of the amount of people that tell him he’s not good enough to play with Celtic, he’s not good enough to play for Scotland, how robust that boy is in terms of, even when he made a mistake and gives a penalty away, I thought he responded really well.

“He is a credit to himself and probably to a lot of young players out there in terms of dealing with criticism and just absolutely going again.”

Ralston’s value to Celtic and Scotland

Plenty of people have opinions on Ralston and that’s okay. But what cannot be denied is that whenever he pulls on the Celtic and Scotland jersey, he always gives 100%.

As well as his footballing ability, Ralston’s resilience and determination have got him to where he is just now which is why he is so highly rated by his Celtic teammates.

Is Ralston the most silky and skilful fullback in the game? Even he will admit he is not but what he is is a very good defender, strong, athletic and has brilliant passing ability and he never pulls out of a challenge which is so important in the modern game.

I am a huge fan of Ralston and he has proven himself to be a very good and reliable backup defender and, as everybody knows, that is so hard to come by in this day and age.