SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has dismissed claims that Arsenal left back Kieran Tierney suffered a serious injury on international duty last season and stressed he will protect his squad during the Nations League matches this month.
However, Clarke has admitted that he will have no qualms about fielding the same players in the Group B1 matches against Ukraine home and away and the Republic of Ireland at home if they are fit and available for selection.
Tierney needed to undergo knee surgery back in April shortly after playing for the national team in every minute of two friendly internationals against Poland and Austria and missed the Qatar 2022 play-off semi-final against Ukraine in June.
Clarke was criticised for playing the former Celtic defender in both games of that double header at the end of March afterwards - even though the problem surfaced during an Arsenal training session the following week.
“I knew that,” he said after naming Tierney in his 25 man squad for the Group B1 matches later this month. “Other people spouted quite a bit, but I knew the circumstances. Like I always do with things that like, I just kept quiet.
Scotland play Ukraine at Hampden a week today, take on the Republic of Ireland at the same stadium three days later and then travel to Poland to play Ukraine again in Krakow on Tuesday week.
Clarke stressed the Premier League leaders will have no concerns about the treatment their £25m signing will receive when he joins up with national squad for the Nations League triple header.
He stated that he will select the same player for all three games if they are fit and he feels they can help his side to record a victory.
“Kieran’s finding his way back at Arsenal,” he said. “They’re looking after him and giving him some minutes, not all the minutes. I think 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.
“It’s a tough ask to play three in a week and Ireland will have a clear run at preparation for the Saturday game, but we’ll be ready.”
