Billy Gilmour is OUT of Scotland's must win Euro 2020 clash with Croatia after testing positive for Covid – just two days after hugging England players at Wembley.
The Chelsea star has dealt Steve Clarke's side a huge blow after being sent to self-isolation for ten days following a test on Sunday.
It is a huge personal blow for Gilmore who made a huge impact against England at Wembley on Friday night, and was certain to start against Croatia at Hampden Park.
It also raised question over his contact during the game with England stars and whether the virus could have been spread during the 0-0 draw and afterwards.
It is thought neither side have been vaccinated and Gilmour gave a sweaty cuddle to Chelsea team mates Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell after the game.
And there may also be fears that the virus is incubating in the Scotland squad among other players.
John Fleck missed Scotland's warm up games after testing positive and had to be locked in his hotel room at their training base.
The Scottish FA have been urged to offer further clarification on Gilmour's contact with other squad members and his close contacts.
The Scots were pinning their hopes on Gilmour to unlock the Croats and get their first goal of the tournament.
A statement from the Scottish FA read: “"The Scottish FA can confirm that a member of the Scotland national team playing squad, Billy Gilmour, has tested positive for Covid-19.”
"Having liaised with Public Health England since the positive test was recorded, Billy will now self-isolate for 10 days and therefore miss tomorrow's Uefa EURO 2020 Group D match against Croatia at Hampden."
Boss Steve Clarke and skipper Andy Robertson are on media duties this evening.
Graeme Souness said: “This knocks us sideways. It is an almighty blow for us, for him and the nation. He was the star of the show. For 20 years old what a debut. He is an enormous prospect for us. We will miss him, I know that sounds daft - 20 years old, one start - but we will.”
Gilmour has impressed his team mates despite his tender years and lack of experience.
Stuart Armstrong could be one of those to benefit from his absence and start against Croatia and he said: “Billy was fantastic against England. I think for being such a young player to have the level of bravery and composure mixed with his quality, was outstanding.
“In such a pressured environment he was terrific and all the boys were delighted for him. He is a nice guy, really down to earth and is one of the boys. When he plays he is fantastic and is a great addition to our squad.”
Scotland need to break their Euros goal duck – and avoid exiting as the only nation yet to score.
Steve Clarke's side have six shots on target to their name after facing the Czech Republic and England – and want to avoid being the dullest team at Euro2020.
They now face a must-win game against Croatia on Tuesday night to be the first Scottish side to get out of the group stages of a tournament.
Turkey, the only other team to have failed to score alongside Scotland, finally netted against Switzerland on Sunday evening.
Striker Lyndon Dykes said: “We’ve got goals in this team, a hundred per cent – we’ve just been unlucky in the last couple of games.
