Steve Clarke has allayed fears of a serious injury to Kieran Tierney after the Scotland full-back was forced off during Friday's defeat by Morocco. The Celtic star started at the Boston Stadium as Morocco secured a 1-0 win thanks to Ismael Saibari's early goal.
Tierney went down off the ball early in the second half and was replaced by Ben Doak. However, speaking at full-time, Clarke confirmed the issue was only cramp, not a serious injury.
Explaining Doak's introduction, Clarke said: "Once he gets in there, you know Ben is going to bring a bit of unpredictability higher up the pitch, a threat that is different. Kieran was terrific, he just cramped up a little bit."
Penalty Controversy
Scotland were controversially denied multiple penalties in the second half. John McGinn and Scott McTominay both went to ground in the box, and Che Adams was taken out while through on goal. Clarke remained diplomatic when asked about the incidents, describing them as fifty-fifties.
"I thought the John McGinn one was a fifty-fifty. I think if the referee had given it, the VAR doesn't overturn it, so I can only speak on that one a little bit," Clarke said. "Che Adams, fifty-fifty as well, he had a chance to go through one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he goes down, and again the referee chooses yellow and the VAR backs the referee. There's nothing we can do about it."
Morocco's Victory
Reflecting on his side's victory, Morocco boss Mohamed Ouahbi said: "The end result, we are happy. We wanted three points and we got them. That was the objective. I think we were very good the whole match and controlled it. When you don't score a second time, you have to defend based on their intense style, very long balls. We held very well and we are happy."
