Kieran Tierney missed Scotland's Euro 2020 defeat to the Czech Republic but the Arsenal defender is fit to face England at Wembley on Friday night; "It's good news for Kieran, it's good news for us, it's good news for the Scottish supporters," said head coach Steve Clarke
Friday 18 June 2021 19:06, UK
Kieran Tierney is "fit and available" to face England on Friday night, Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has confirmed.
The Arsenal defender missed Scotland's Euro 2020 defeat to Czech Republic on Monday but returned to light training on Tuesday.
Clarke had said a "little niggle" in training ruled Tierney out of the 2-0 defeat at Hampden Park, but the full-back has trained "fully" with team-mates for the past two days and is part of the travelling squad for the trip to Wembley.
"Everybody fit and available, including Kieran," Clarke told reporters on Thursday. "It's good news for Kieran, it's good news for us, it's good news for the Scottish supporters, so hopefully we can back all that up with a good result.
"He's trained fully the last two days, so he's available for the whole game."
Monday's defeat to Czech Republic puts the pressure on Scotland to get points from their remaining two Group D games.
Defeat to England may not rule them out of contention entirely with four third-place finishers still reaching the last 16, but a loss would undoubtedly put added pressure on the match against Croatia on Tuesday.
"The objective when we started this tournament was to get enough points to get out of the group stage and into the knockout stage for the first time and we still have that in front of us," Clarke added.
"So we hope to get something out of the game against England and also we have to get something from the game against Croatia as well. So we look forward to the next two games."
Scotland enjoyed more possession and recorded 19 shots to Czech Republic's 10 in the 2-0 loss, but despite their failure to score Clarke still questioned the reaction to their opening defeat.
"It's not really about a siege mentality, it's about having a balanced and fair reflection on a game of football," Clarke said.
"I'm not sure we got that after the game the other night but that game's in the past, and we look forward to the next game, against very tough opponents in England."
Clarke also said he has respect for opposing manager Gareth Southgate but does not expect much communication with his England counterpart during Friday's game.
"I think Gareth's done a great job with the England team," Clarke said. "He took them to the last four in the last World Cup - it's not an easy thing to do.
"He's got a terrific squad of players. He's taken that squad of players, he's developed, he's brought a lot of young, exciting talent through into the squad, so he's done a great job.
"I know Gareth well from the circuit, when you're going around watching matches, we bumped into each other quite a lot before the Covid restrictions hit, so I've got a lot of respect for Gareth, he's a really good person and always nice to bump into him and speak to him, and hopefully we can have a nice chat tomorrow.
"We won't talk to each very much for the 95 or the 96 minutes of the game, but afterwards hopefully we can have another chat."
Scott McTominay was also on media duties on the eve of Scotland's clash with England, and the Manchester United midfielder admitted it would be "strange" to potentially line up against club team-mate Marcus Rashford.
"What he's done off the pitch has been nothing short of incredible," McTominay said.
"The way that he's handled himself, the way he's conducted himself, on and off the football pitch he's been an absolute breath of fresh air.
"Obviously for myself to play against him tomorrow will be exciting, I can't wait for it. It will be a strange moment, we've played together for so many years, since the age of eight years old going through the academy at Manchester United. Playing against each other tomorrow night will be fun, I'm excited."
