Kieran Tierney has had a topsy turvy season at Arsenal.
The Celtic-bound Tierney has only played 11 times this campaign for his club with just two starts in that time, but it is a better return than he’s had with the Gunners for some time.
Manager Mikel Arteta refused to allow Tierney a January exit despite a pre-contract being inked by the defender which will see him link up with Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead again from the summer.
Before this season he had struggled with injury issues and he was forced to sit out of Scotland’s Nations League efforts with a hamstring problem. Tierney’s most recent international cap came back in June 2024 at the Euros against Switzerland but he’s now back and available for Steve Clarke in the Scotland squad.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Kieran Tierney has given Steve Clarke a Scotland decision to make
That has given the head coach something to think about with Tierney always being a versatile option that Clarke has used even alongside Andy Robertson at times.
And with the Scots facing Greece this evening in Attica, Clarke admits it’s a “difficult choice” of what to do with Tierney now that he’s ready to go again.
“It’s not a headache,” Clarke said, “It’s a nice problem to have when you have a lot of good players to select from.
“We’ve also lost a few players in the build up to the game and we’ve managed to bring some younger ones in to freshen things up a little bit. So we’ve had good preparation.
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“But, as a coach, you want as many difficult choices as possible.
“Listen, it gives us another option. We’ve spoken about it and hopefully we can come up with the right solutions.”
Tierney could force a Scotland set-up rethink
Clarke has never been the most versatile coach in terms of tweaking his tactical plans but he has developed one or two match set-ups in recent times.
And with Tierney back in action, he may be ready to change it up again to accommodate the 27-year-old.
“The team’s been good with a back four. Obviously we changed the whole way we approached the games in the Nations League group stages. We went with four at the back and it worked.
“It worked well because we also had an outlet on the right hand side with the pace of Ben Doak. We didn’t have the option of putting Kieran into the team so it’s certainly given me a lot to think about.”