Scotland boss Steve Clarke has singled out Arsenal star Kieran Tierney for special praise ahead of tonight's crunch World Cup qualifier with Faroe Islands.
The 24-year-old defender, who hails from Muirhouse, has been in inspirational form in the dark blue of late and another standout display in Saturday's last-gasp 3-2 win over Israel drew huge plaudits from his gaffer.
While Clarke gave huge plaudits to his entire squad for their spirited comeback under the Saturday night lights at Hampden, Tierney was given special mention during the pre-match press conference.
Clarke said: "Other players in the team get good press. John [McGinn]. The captain [Andy Robertson]. Dykesy [Lyndon Dykes]. For good and bad reasons the other night. Everyone wants to talk about a striker.
“You have people like Kenny McLean. He’s keeping Billy [Gilmour] out of the Norwich side at the moment and is not getting any minutes under me.
“I have to mention Kieran as well. Playing in that back three he’s been excellent for us. You see the other night the dynamic between him and Andy.
“Kieran has gone in there, he plays out of position for us, but he does it fantastically well.
“Sometimes you have to flag up players like that as being really important.
“He’s every bit as good as I thought he was.
"His maturity and his capacity to play slightly out of position and still do a fantastic job for the country is absolutely different class.
“To me, they’re all star names. It is important for everyone that you are always grounded and you have to work very, very hard in every game to get a result.
“And Kieran is one of those players who recognises and understands that. It’s a great example for everyone.”
Tierney has won 27 caps for his country since making his debut in a 1-0 friendly win over Denmark in March 2016 while at Celtic.
His career has sky-rocketed since and his cool head is exemplified by just a solitary booking in his outings for the national side.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
