Southampton striker Ross Stewart has ended a four-year absence from international football by being named in Scotland's 26-man squad for the World Cup. The 29-year-old's strong finish to the domestic season, scoring five goals in ten games, convinced manager Steve Clarke to include him. Stewart's last appearance for Scotland was as a substitute in a Nations League match against Ireland in 2022.
Clarke acknowledged that an injury to Tommy Conway may have helped Stewart's chances, but insisted the former Sunderland man was always in his thoughts. 'Ross was in my squad a few years ago, showing that he can come up to this level,' Clarke said. 'He had a terrible run of injuries. From January onwards, he's had a rich vein of form where he's shown that he can score big goals in big games.'
Clarke has largely kept faith with the squad that served him well during qualifying. Veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 43, is included despite limited playing time for Hearts this season due to injury. Clarke said Gordon is training well and deserves his place after playing a part in the qualifying campaign.
At the other end of the age scale, 19-year-old Findlay Curtis has been called up after an impressive loan spell at Kilmarnock from Rangers. 'He's got something a little bit different,' Clarke said. 'He's also shown that he can score a goal or two in a Kilmarnock team that was struggling down at the bottom of the league.'
Lennon Miller, Oli McBurnie and Ross McCrorie are among those to miss out. Clarke personally called four players to explain their omissions. Scotland begin their World Cup campaign against Haiti in Boston on 13 June, followed by matches against Morocco and Brazil.
