Teenager shines as concerns grow over Gilmour fitness
Tyler Fletcher is on standby for a remarkable World Cup call-up with Scotland fearing the worst following an injury to Billy Gilmour.
The Manchester United midfielder, son of former Scotland skipper Darren, played the second half of the 4-1 warm-up win over Curacao at Hampden having not even been named in the original squad.
The 19-year-old hasn’t even started a game for his club side.
Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher made his Scotland debut against Curacao.placeholder image
Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher made his Scotland debut against Curacao. | SNS Group
Gilmour had already limped off the pitch in the first half, when he was replaced by Findlay Curtis. The Napoli midfielder immediately left Hampden for a scan on his right knee.
Fletcher belatedly joined the squad along with four other Under-21 players. Clarke required players to make up the numbers in training following the late arrival of several experienced stars after long seasons.
Fletcher impressed in these sessions to the extent that he came on to replace Ben Gannon-Doak at half time. Again, he took his chance against the ten men of Curacao, who had striker Jurgen Locadia sent off in the first half for elbowing Aaron Hickey.
Clarke described himself as “100 per cent worried” about Gilmour, who pulled up after a tackle 40 minutes in. “He will be assessed and we will find out how bad it is,” he said. He added that he was “sitting here hoping and praying he’s on the plane”.
The manager continued: “Obviously he hurt himself in the tackle and he made the decision that he had to come off. So that tells you he himself knew it was not right. We will just have to wait and see. There is no point speculating or thinking the worst. Let’s see what the medics say.”
Clarke did reveal that Fletcher was featuring high in his thoughts if the midfielder must be replaced. Others including Lennon Miller, who was left out of the original squad, will be sitting by his phone. Clarke has also asked Connor Barron and Andy Irving to be on standby but he admitted Fletcher “was a little bit closer than the other three” given he was already in the building and played so well after coming on.
“Everybody's impressed,” he said. “The players are impressed, the coaching staff are impressed. "I actually thought about putting him on as Billy came off, but I just thought I'd have a little look, see how the game panned out before introducing him at half time.”
Scotland head to Florida
Although the teenager is available to take his place on the plane if required, he does have one pressing engagement. “He’s off to his auntie’s wedding tonight,” said Clarke.
Scotland fly out to Florida on Sunday morning to begin an acclimatisation week before a final warm-up match against Bolivia next Saturday night.
Fletcher joined Under 21 teammates James Wilson, Luke Graham, Liam McFarlane and Andew Tod in being called up earlier this week. Wilson also saw action against Curacao as a second-half substitute.
"The three I mentioned are on standby,” said Clarke, with reference to Barron, Miller and Irving. “He (Fletcher) joined us this week and trained well so is a little bit closer than the other three. But I would need to have a big discussion with my staff in deciding that's the way to go."
He described it as a “good headache” if it were to come to this and Gilmour missed out. “It will keep me awake tonight,” he said.
Perhaps surprisingly, Clarke lamented the red card to Curacao that opened up the game and helped Scotland secure an ultimately convincing victory in their World Cup farewell in front of 44, 433 spectators.
Several hundred were wearing Curacao colours and they were given a thrill when the impressive Tahith Chong put the visitors ahead after 17 minutes with a stunning goal. "I think the scoreline is a poor reflection on Curacao,” said Clarke. “They are a good team. 11 v 11 they were the better team.
"It would have been better if it had stayed 11 v 11 and then we would have been asked more questions about whether we could find the spaces on the pitch."
Lawrence Shankland scored twice for Scotland against Curacao.placeholder image
Lawrence Shankland scored twice for Scotland against Curacao. | Local Library
Clarke praised Lawrence Shankland for his two-goal contribution following the striker’s high-profile week. His move to Rangers from Hearts was confirmed on Monday.
“I felt we struggled to get Lawrence into the game first half,” he said. “I felt he was coming too deep. We mentioned certain positions on the pitch and he concentrated too much in trying to get into build-up positions whereas Lawrence's strength is obviously in the box.
“Even the set-piece goal, the delivery into him wasn't great but he still managed to dig out a finish. His two finishes were pretty much typical Lawrence Shankland."
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On the question of who will be his No.1 when the real action starts against Haiti in Boston, the manager played down the significance of starting Shankland’s former Hearts teammate Craig Gordon in goal. The 43-year-old was later replaced by Liam Kelly.
“Craig hasn't played since January,” he explained. “He'd only come back from training five, six weeks ago. Angus (Gunn) has been training all season. He had a game with Forest Under-23s a couple of weeks ago. So it was just a chance to get minutes on the pitch for Craig. Angus will start the game against Bolivia.”