Steve Clarke last night spoke of his heartbreak for Billy Gilmour after seeing the Napoli midfielder ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury. The 24-year-old limped off towards the end of the first half during yesterday’s friendly win over Curacao and was told the nightmare news after being taken straight from Hampden for a scan.
Clarke has revealed that 19-year-old Manchester United rookie Tyler Fletcher, son of former national team captain Darren, is now in contention for a sensational call-up for the finals along with three others on standby after making his debut against Dick Advocaat’s outfit.
However, as he prepares to fly out to the US with his squad today, the thoughts of the Scotland boss were with 46-times-capped Gilmour as he convened with his coaching staff to decide on a replacement.
‘I am devastated for Billy because he has been an integral part of our World Cup qualifying campaign,’ said Clarke. ‘The timing of this injury is so, so cruel and we all feel for him. He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and as a person and, while no words will give him any comfort tonight, I am certain Billy will have many major tournaments ahead of him in the future.’
Midfielders Lennon Miller, Connor Barron and Andy Irving were all put on standby when Clarke named his 26-man squad for the World Cup, but Fletcher, brought in to make up the numbers ahead of the Curacao game, appears to have played his way into Clarke’s thinking.
Asked whether Fletcher, who has just two first-team appearances for United on his CV, might merit a seat on the plane across the Atlantic, Clarke replied: ‘It’s a good headache. We have Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller and you can see for yourself how good young Tyler is. It will keep me awake tonight. The three I mentioned are on standby. Tyler joined us this week and trained well, so is a little bit closer than the other three, but I would need to have a big discussion with my staff in deciding that’s the way to go. Tyler — okay, against 10 men — showed that he has the capabilities of being a big player for us in the future. Everybody’s impressed with him. The players are impressed, the coaching staff are impressed.’
Southampton forward Ross Stewart, meanwhile, is also carrying a knee injury ahead of travelling to America and was ruled out of the Curacao encounter as a result — with Saturday’s friendly with Bolivia in New Jersey a target. ‘Unfortunately Ross Stewart felt something in his knee in training,’ revealed Clarke. ‘We decided not to risk him. He’ll train in America next week.’
A goal from Findlay Curtis, two strikes from Lawrence Shankland and a Ryan Christie penalty gave Scotland the win yesterday. However, Curacao led through a Tahith Chong effort and Clarke has admitted he was disappointed to see visiting striker Jurgen Locadia ordered off on 37 minutes for an elbow on Aaron Hickey with his side still a goal up.
‘I think the scoreline is a poor reflection on Curacao,’ he said. ‘At 11 v 11, they were the better team. We huffed and puffed a little bit and it took us time to build into the game. The red card changes the whole dynamic of the game. It’s nice to win any international game, but it would have been better if it had stayed 11 v 11 and then we would have been asked more questions. Could we find the spaces on the pitch, could we create the chances we created against 10 men, against 11? That would have been a better exercise. Hopefully, in the second half, you got a little glimpse into why I signed a four-year contract because some of the young boys who came into the game were really good.’
Shankland also reinforced his claims for a starting slot in the Group C opener against Haiti on June 14 with a strong second-half display. ‘I felt we struggled to get Lawrence into the game first-half,’ said Clarke. ‘I felt he was coming too deep. We mentioned certain positions on the pitch and he concentrated too much in trying to get into build-up positions, whereas Lawrence’s strength is obviously in the box. At the set-piece goal, the delivery into him wasn’t great but he still managed to dig out a finish. His two finishes were pretty much typical Lawrence.’
Clarke also stated that Craig Gordon starting against Curacao should not be taken as a sign he is now the chosen No 1 ahead of Angus Gunn and Liam Kelly. ‘There’s no indication on that,’ stated the national coach. ‘It was just a chance to get minutes on the pitch for Craig. Angus starts the game against Bolivia.’
Curacao manager Dick Advocaat, meanwhile, was disappointed with Georgian referee Goga Kikacheishvili’s decision to send Locadia packing. ‘It is a referee from Georgia. That says enough,’ remarked the former Rangers boss. ‘Now we have to wait to see what happens with Locadia for the World Cup. For 40 minutes, we controlled the game a little bit. It then became 1-1 out of nothing and that makes it difficult. Scotland are an outsider for the World Cup and so are we, but outsiders can surprise, so why not?’
