Steve Clarke has insisted he will have no qualms about using Kieran Tierney in all three of Scotland’s upcoming Nations League games next week – even if Arsenal want him nursed back to full fitness.
The Gunners defender missed the end of last season after undergoing knee surgery in April and has been used off the bench this term. But Scotland boss Clarke is adamant that he calls the shots over national team selection - and with captain Andy Robertson out injured, he will use former Celtic left back Tierney as often as he sees fit over the two games with Ukraine either side of the clash with Ireland at Hampden next Saturday.
Clarke, who named a 25-man squad, was asked if he’d have to consult with Arsenal prior to the triple header and answered: “I don’t think so. Arsenal will trust us to treat their player properly as we do with everybody. We try to treat them all correctly.
“Listen, my job is to win matches and if I need my best players on the pitch for all three games, that’s what I have to do. We have to use them as we see fit to get the best out of the player. Obviously we are not going to try to injure a player or do anything that’s crazy. If a player is not capable of playing three 90 minutes we would manage the minutes and still utilise them as much as we could.”
Clarke reinstated Newcastle United’s Ryan Fraser to the squad for the first time since the attacker pulled out of games against Moldova and Denmark last November, citing a calf injury and was subsequently photographed in a club training session.
That led to accusations that the former Aberdeen player wasn’t committed to the cause but Clarke insisted he is convinced that Fraser is 100 percent up for national service.
He added: “That’s unfair (perception of being uncommitted). It’s just a picture. You can always go on the training pitch even though you’ve got an injury. He probably wasn’t training flat out but would have been working towards his recovery.
“If I wasn’t totally satisfied (about his commitment) he wouldn’t be in the squad. In March I said that I’d had a discussion with Ryan, he wasn’t playing at Newcastle and it was better for him to stay there and get himself in the team. And then he would be selected based on performances for Newcastle.
“Now he’s in the team and performing well at the start of the season. And he’s in the squad. He was injured in the summer so I couldn’t pick him then. He improves the squad.”
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