Scotland have suffered their latest personnel blow with Alan Hutton having confirmed his retirement from international duty. The Aston Villa right-back, who won 50 caps, informed Gordon Strachan of his decision before the squad for Friday’s World Cup qualifier with England was announced in midweek.
Hutton, 31, made his Scotland debut in a friendly against Austria in May 2007. He was part of the team that memorably defeated France 1-0 in Paris, four months later. More recently, Hutton was a routine starter under Strachan even when out of the first-team picture at Villa. His cap haul earned the former Rangers and Tottenham player a spot in Scotland’s international hall of fame.
“I feel this is the right time to spend more time with my family, put everything I have professionally into doing well at Villa and give others a chance for Scotland,” Hutton told The Observer. “I’ve had a really enjoyable nine years with Scotland and would like to think I have done my bit for my country.
“ I’d like to thank all the managers I have played under, especially Gordon for sticking by me when I wasn’t a club regular. We had a couple of good chats over the last few weeks and I appreciate his understanding. I wish both Gordon and the team all the best for the future.”
Scotland fielded Callum Paterson at right-back against Malta in the opening match of their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. After Hutton withdrew from the squad for the matches against Lithuania and Slovakia, the Hearts player retained his place. Paterson, though, remains the only natural right-back in the Scotland party to play England. Russell Martin, who has played there for Norwich City, has been deployed as a centre-back by Strachan.
Celtic’s Scott Brown, who retired from international duty in September only to reverse his decision, is back in the Scotland squad but is a doubt with a numb foot sustained in Celtic’s 3-0 win on Saturday. Tow of Strachan’s left backs, Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson, have been rendered unavailable because of injury.
