This week, Steve Clarke will announce his Scotland squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Denmark respectively, and it simply must have Anthony Ralston in there competing for a spot.
Ralston has failed to make both the September and October Scotland squads for reasons known only to Clarke. Despite the fact Anthony has been flourishing on a weekly basis for Celtic, he’s continued to be snubbed.
Instead, Clarke has called on the likes of Stephen O’Donnell and Nathan Patterson to compete for his right-back spot. Absolutely laughable considering Ralston has been one of the first names on the Celtic team sheet this year.
Clarke even acknowledged Ralston’s form back in September when he missed out on the first squad. The Scotland boss stated then that he wanted to see Ralston keep his place at Celtic before he was given a pass into the national team [PLZ Soccer]. Funny that considering Patterson is nowhere near the Rangers XI yet was called up to the Euro 2020 squad.
Regardless, Ralston has still smashed that challenge.
In fact, he was a regular at Celtic and managed to keep his spot heading into the October internationals. Clarke incredibly still snubbed him.
Scotland need to call up Celtic man Anthony Ralston immediately
Over the last month, however, Tony has seriously stepped things up once again. He now has 4 goals for the season as he proves to be a serious threat in the final third.
More importantly, of course, his defending has improved massively. Celtic have been bailed out on several occasions at the back thanks to Ralston’s aggression and timing of the challenge. When it comes to one-v-one defending, he’s nowhere near as easy to get beyond as he once was.
Not to mention his deliveries into the penalty area appear to be improving. Against Livingston yesterday, Ralston fizzed in 10 crosses as he looked for Giorgos Giakoumakis in the penalty area. Many of them were screaming for the striker to make a run across the front post.
If Ralston is snubbed again, he has every right to wonder to himself what he needs to do. The right-back is still only 22. He’s only 2 years Patterson’s senior. It feels as though people forget that at times. Everyone talks about the Rangers kid as Scotland’s future right-back for years to come. Ralston is spot on to think he should be in the conversation.
But the only way he can do that is to be given a shot. Sure, some will say Clarke has to pick the players that’s helped him get to where Scotland are at in the World Cup qualifiers. That’s understandable, but he’s also shown there’s room in his squad for those who are springing into form.
Ralston’s time is now. He’s the best-performing right-back Clarke has available at his disposal. Another refusal to select him would be the most laughable snub yet.
In other news, Livingston manager addresses Celtic penalty award as he calls out player
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