Celtic duo Callum McGregor and Greg Taylor could join the list of Hoop stars who are set to be rested for their nation’s final friendly fixtures of the international break.
Both Celtic teammates featured for Steve Clarke’s side last Thursday night, as the Tartan Army were held to a 1-1 draw against Poland at Hampden Park.
They now face one more friendly game, travelling to Austria to take on the play-off semi-final losers.
However, Steve Clarke has admitted ahead of the game that he could be set to rotate his starting line-up from Thursday’s match, giving others within the squad some game time in Vienna.
It looks almost certain that at least one, Greg Taylor, will be rested as Clarke prepares to welcome back captain Andy Robertson, as well as Lyndon Dykes, who missed out last time due to injury.
“Yes, 100% both boys are good,” he said, speaking to Sky Sports.
“Looking at the bigger picture in terms of fairness to players in the squad, more than anything, it’s a game where I’ll probably rotate a little more than I would do for a second game before an international break.”
With the Scotland boss having a number of midfield options within his squad, hopefully, we can see the Celtic captain joining Taylor on the bench tomorrow evening.
As much as it is great to see Hoops players pull on their nation’s colours, with such a big game to come this Sunday, it would be disastrous to lose a player of such magnitude in the side in a needless friendly fixture.
We will need to wait and see the starting line-up that Clarke names tomorrow night for confirmation, but it certainly sounds promising that both will be handed a well-deserved rest.
The international breaks should be scrapped while the league and domestic cups are ongoing.
No one gives a shit about these games.
Play them in the close season. Or better again, not at all.