JOHN Carver has admitted that Scotland might change their formation and switch to a back four in their final Euro 2024 group game against Hungary after revealing that Kieran Tierney has been ruled out of the tournament by injury.
Steve Clarke has mainly used three centre-backs and two wing-backs during his five year tenure as national team manager so that he can field Arsenal left-back Tierney alongside his Liverpool counterpart Andy Robertson in the same starting line-up.
However, the former Celtic player pulled up clutching his hamstring in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the RheinEnergieStadion on Wednesday night and he returned home yesterday so he can be assessed by medical staff at his club.
Clarke changed to a 4-2-3-1 set-up for the Nations League games against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland back in 2022 when Robertson was sidelined and his charges promptly recorded two wins and a draw and secured promotion to the A League.
Scotland assistant manager Carver stressed that his colleague would have no qualms about making such a dramatic move in the massively important outing – the country can reach the knockout rounds for the first time ever if they prevail – in the MHPArena in Stuttgart tomorrow.
Asked if Tierney leaving increased the likelihood of a new formation, he said: “It could do, for sure. But we also have players who can slot into that. Let’s not forget we have (Scott) McKenna, who came on and did really well. Coops (Liam Cooper) can play on that left side.
“We are actually fortunate, we are a national team with an abundance of left footed players. At club football you struggle to find good lefties. But I remember when I first came here, we struggled to find a right centre back which was why Scott McTominay played there.
“It has been a bit of a whirlwind (since Wednesday). But we will have a conversation. It’s something we have done in the past. We have changed the system already twice. We actually did it before the Swiss game.
“So we had to change it to get a reaction, for ourselves, for the players. So we changed it and it worked for us. But what worked in that game might not work in the game against Hungary once we have sat down and assessed it all.
“Steve has been flexible all the way through since I’ve been with him. We changed that system because we needed to get more players in certain areas. So there is no reason why we might not go to that (a back four). We might.
“I’m not the head coach and I can’t say that. But I can give my opinion and we will talk about the system. We have to wait and see because we also haven’t had conversations with players to see where they are physically.”
Carver, who revealed that former Aberdeen and Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack has been feeling unwell this week, was devastated when he learned that Tierney, who was stretchered off in midweek, had to return home. However, he is confident the defender will be involved in many more tournaments in future.
“He is jumping on the plane as we speak,” he said. “He will go back to his club, they’ll have a look at and assess the injury and then I’m sure they’ll make a statement on what it is.
“We haven’t done anything other than look at him at close hand. He was ok this morning, he came to see people before he left and he will be back if we progress.
“He is a young lad, a talented lad. He is just 27. He has plenty time whether it is short term, medium term, long term. Whatever it is, he has plenty time to recover. But he has got to make sure he is right when he comes back.”
Carver continued: “He is so unlucky. I class him as a finely tuned athlete, most of them are. But when you are as quick as what he is, and you don’t realise how quick he is, it is a fine margin.
“In the first half he got run down his side a couple of times and he went into acceleration mode. In the back of your mind you are thinking, ‘Oh no, just get through the game.’
“When he actually went back for the challenge and went down, I just thought he had fallen over. Then you see the way he had hyper-extended and that can be painful. When he came off and the guys assessed him, they said it was his hamstring and we would have to send him back for his club to analyse.
Asked if Tierney could play in the last 16 game if Scotland get through, Carver said: “There’s no way. We just have to wait and see, I can’t give you more information. I just know he is on a plane and going back.”
