Ben Gannon-Doak will be "scunnered" by Sebastien Pocognoli playing him at wing-back for Scotland, according to Richard Foster, with the former Rangers and Aberdeen full-back declaring that the boss will have to change his formation after the lacklustre display against North Macedonia.
The jet-paced Bournemouth winger delivered a low-key performance on Friday night as Pocognoli's side struggled in the unconvincing 2-1 Nations League win at Hampden, with the 21-year-old playing as a wing-back. The Belgian has deployed the attacker in the defensive role to fit his preferred tactical system and has insisted he will stand by the £25m man heading into the clash with Switzerland.
Foster's verdict on winger frustration
But Foster reckons the feeling may not be mutual, telling BBC Sportsound: "When you as a full-back you get to play wing-back, it's amazing. All of a sudden you are 10-20 yards up the pitch, you do more attacking and your natural position is a bit higher up, you can be a bit more aggressive."
"When you ask a winger to do that, most of the time they are absolutely scunnered. They are thinking 'I don't want to go back there'."
Exciting talents left on bench
Foster pointed to the unused attacking options in the squad, saying: "I am just looking at the squad (against North Macedonia), the three most exciting players we had - Findlay Curtis, Ben Gannon-Doak and Josh McPake - all three are wingers and he didn't bring them on."
"You look at the difference in the previous game (against Slovenia) the difference McPake and Curtis made by coming on and just taking players on - it gives everyone a lift, it gives your teammates a lift."
"As a fan you want to get excited about what you are watching. We are playing in a shape and you have the most exciting talents on the bench, and they can't get on unless you adjust things. I just think he has to change the formation."
Formation change urged
Foster added: "If you want to play him (Gannon-Doak) as a winger, play a formation that has wingers. If you want to play 3-4-3, 3-5-2, whatever it is - play Aaron Hickey or Nathan Patterson at right-wing-back. They are both very good at going forward and very athletic."
Asked about the wide man at full-time on Friday, Pocognoli said: "As long as he is high on the pitch - and is creating one vs ones - I am happy. Everything I say happens."
"With Ben, we know that he is at a young age and needs to work on specific things. He had great opportunities. We know that he needs to improve on the end product."
