Scotland legend Craig Brown says head coach Steve Clarke missed players like Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay during World Cup qualifiers this week.
Clarke’s team played two of three Qatar 2022 qualifiers, a 2-0 defeat to Denmark on Wednesday and 1-0 win over Moldova three days later. Manchester United man McTominay, attacking midfielder Stuart Armstrong and Celtic duo James Forrest and Greg Taylor missed both games through injury.
McTominay has missed this international break. (Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Stephen O’Donnell, John McGinn, Nathan Patterson and Kevin Nisbet missed the Danish test with various fitness issues. It’s resulted in criticism of Clarke but the missing men were factors this week ahead of a crucial clash with Austria on Tuesday, according to Brown, the last man to manage Scotland at a World Cup way back in 1998.
He said (EP): “I would say have faith in the Scotland manager. I am fully supportive of Steve Clarke and the fans have all gotten behind him as well. When we were qualifying for the Euros everything was wonderful. I have not heard one player complain about what is happening with the Scottish team.
“We were a little unfortunate against Denmark because we were without McGinn, McTominay and Armstrong who have the legs to get about the pitch. These are top players who are in the English Premier League. The quality has improved a lot and players are coming in from the top teams in England.”
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