Liam Kelly knows he faces a three-way shoot-out to become Scotland No.1 now that Angus Gunn has joined up with Steve Clarke’s squad.
But the Motherwell keeper won’t be surprised to see Craig Gordon firing himself back into cap contention once the Hearts veteran recovers from his leg-break hell. Clarke has succeeded in finding a high-calibre replacement for the crocked 40-year-old having persuaded former England Under-21 stopper Gunn to switch allegiances.
The Norwich ace will now have to fight it out with Kelly and Gordon’s Tynecastle understudy Zander Clark to get the jersey for this week’s Euro 2020 qualifiers with Cyprus and Spain. But Kelly isn’t prepared to rule out Gordon from rejoining the glove duel after being stunned by the swift progress his rival has made since his horrific Boxing Day collision with Dundee United’s Steven Fletcher.
Asked if Gunn’s arrival signalled a changing of the guard for Scotland’s goalkeeping slot, the Fir Park skipper said: “I understand your question but I wouldn’t be ruling Craig Gordon out yet.
“There’s an opportunity now because Craig is injured. It’s an opportunity to show what you can do and then we’ll see what the manager does. But I’m not sure about a changing of the guard. I think there’s still plenty of life left in Craig Gordon yet.
“It’s quite frightening how you see him move in training, to be honest. For his age he’s unbelievable. Him and Allan McGregor are probably the two best goalies I’ve worked with. That won’t change.”
Clarke insisted last week that he’s not yet made his mind up on who his new No.1 is, with the starting slot in goal still up for grabs. Kelly is aware he likely did not do his chances of impressing the national team boss much good when he failed to keep out James
Tavernier’s free-kick during the 4-2 loss Stuart Kettlewell’s team suffered against Rangers on Saturday. But he’s heading into camp this week determined to make the most of the experience.
“I couldn’t see it at all,” confessed the Fir Park ace as he looked back on the Gers equaliser. I couldn’t even see Tav stepping up to hit it, to be honest. They had two of their guys standing in the wall and that’s so crucial as I couldn’t even see the ball.
“You hope Tavernier doesn’t get it up and over, and you protect your side. If I’m being hypercritical of myself, I could probably say I was half a step too close to my side. But I’m still young, still trying to get better and still trying to learn.
“I’ll look at it again and try and improve for next time. I’ve picked up a lot since the manager came in here at Motherwell. We’d a couple of good results and personally I felt I played a lot better and we’ve been playing well collectively.
“There are things you can do better every week. Absolutely. I always look at that. You get better every time you come back from a Scotland trip. It will be no different this time.
“I’m just looking to kick on, see what happens during the week and take it as it comes. I back myself, I trust myself and I’ve got a lot of believe in my own ability. But then I’m sure the two other boys will feel the same.”
Kelly is still waiting for his first cap but admits it would be the fulfilment of a lifetime’s dream if he does get the nod from Clarke.
He said: “It’s everything isn’t it? That’s why you start playing football when you are a wee guy. You don’t ever see it as a reality when you are growing up – playing for Scotland. It would mean everything to me and my family if that opportunity ever came.
“Do I feel I’m ahead of Angus? That’s not my decision to make, is it? Only the manager can answer that. But he’s said it’s a clean slate for everybody. The manager is a really honest man and he’ll mean that.
“We’ll go in and every goalie will try to do their best. He’ll pick the team and it’s out of our hands.”
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