Nathan Patterson knows what it means to have the experience of a major tournament taken away by injury, something long-time friend Billy Gilmour is now going through
Billy Gilmour of Scotland gets treated for an injury before being substituted during the international friendly match between Scotland and Curacao at Hampden Park. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Billy Gilmour of Scotland gets treated for an injury before being substituted during the international friendly match between Scotland and Curacao at Hampden Park. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
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Nathan Patterson reflected on his own injury struggles as he sent a classy message to Billy Gilmour.
The Everton defender flew out with the Scotland squad to their World Cup training base in the USA on Sunday.
Gilmour was not on the flight to Florida, however, after suffering a knee injury in Scotland’s win over Curacao on Saturday afternoon. The Napoli midfielder was quickly ruled out of the tournament, a fact confirmed by the Scottish FA in a statement that added: “We're all with you, Billy.”
Patterson posted a message of his own to Gilmour on Instagram, sharing an image of the pair as schoolboy footballers before they both went on to join Rangers, where they toured England and Europe as part of the same academy team.
The 24-year-old wrote: “Hard to put into words just now but if anyone knows what you’re going through it’s me. You will get through it. Wishing you all the best mate.”
Patterson was referring to his own misfortune. Since joining Everton in January 2022 he has been plagued by injury and he too suffered a cruel blow that denied him the opportunity to play for Scotland in a major tournament as he missed out on Euro 2024.
This has been another campaign in which he has spent time out of action, and he has struggled for minutes while being fit - despite playing well in his last start, Everton’s 1-0 win at Aston Villa in January.
Despite that, the right back is part of Steve Clarke’s World Cup squad and played the second half of the 4-1 friendly win over fellow qualifiers Curacao.