Scott McTominay has apologised to captain Callum McGregor and the Scotland fans for his Tartan Army snub in Kazakhstan.
The Manchester United midfielder appeared to be at the centre of a post-match bust-up involving the stand-in skipper and coach James McFadden after disappearing straight down the tunnel following the shameful 3-0 defeat.
But the 22-year-old insists it wasn’t a lack of respect for the Celtic player or the fans - and revealed he was making a bolt for the toilet with an ‘emergency’ after a stomach bug had floored him for 24 hours.
And he admits he’d have reacted the same way as the angry Hoops star, who wanted him out there to show some appreciation for the punters.
McTominay said: “Callum was simply being a good captain. I would have reacted exactly the same.
“I spoke to Callum and apologised. I saw that he was speaking to Faddy but I had to go.
“I also apologised to Faddy for any confusion it caused between the two of them.
“It was an emergency and the circumstances were out of my hands. I finished as quick as I could and I went back out and then I had to listen to the manager.
“The past couple of days I’ve had a bit of a stomach bug and I’ve been nursing that.
“I had to leave one of the training sessions to go the toilet. Whenever you’re desperate, you have to go and it was the same at the end of the match.
“I have loads of respect for the fans who’ve travelled but I had to go.
“I went back out and tried to go back over to the fans until I realised that the manager was speaking and I was called back in.
‘That was the end of it. Everybody knows I’m not the type of lad to do something like that.
“I’ve never done it in my career and it’s ridiculous how these things can end up being blown up.
“So I want to nip it in the bud.”
McTominay earned his sixth cap in the 3-0 Group I defeat in the furthest-flung country on UEFA’s map.
And he insists wearing the dark blue shirt means the world to him - as do the fans who followed them to the back end of beyond.
He said: “The fans had no idea what was happening. They had no idea I had a stomach bug and had to go for an emergency after the match.
‘So I would like to apologise to them too. If it has been perceived in the wrong way then I apologise for that.
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‘The fans should know how much I love Scotland and love my club too. I’m not like that and I would never disrespect either set of supporters.
“It was just one of those 24-hour things that was catching up with me. Out on the pitch I was absolutely fine. I wasn’t holding back so that’s a positive for the weekend.
“And it wasn’t a factor in me not starting on Thursday either - the manager and all his staff knew I was fit and ready to go.
“The selection was nothing to do with the stomach bug.”
