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Sport
Andy McGilvray

Scotland hero Stuart McCall hails 'quality' stars Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson

Former Scotland midfielder Stuart McCall hopes Steve Clarke has cracked the problem of playing Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson in the same team, and says they are both quality players.

Both English Premier League stars started in the 1-1 draw in Israel last night and were key to earning a useful point in the World Cup qualifier.

Arsenal star Tierney, from Muirhouse, started as part of a back three, but then moved to centre-half as Liverpool ace Robertson slotted into left-back, and McCall hopes that's the way forward for the national team.

He said criticism of Robertson, with some saying he doesn't play as well in a dark blue shirt as he does for Liverpool, is unfair.

Speaking to Sky Sports, former Motherwell boss McCall said: "It's totally unfair; listen, Andy Robertson is one of our quality players, as is Tierney, and I thought Tierney showed his versatility last night.

"He started off in a back three, went to a left-sided centre-half and unless he's playing against a 6ft 2ins guy as a centre-forward then he's comfortable there as well.

"Andy Robertson is a good captain; people say he doesn't play as well as he does for Liverpool, but he was in his natural role last night and if he plays as left full-back I think we'll see more crosses coming in from him."

McCall isn't having any doom and gloom, with some saying Scotland will now find it difficult to quality from group F, but admits the clash at home to the Faroe Islands on Wednesday is a "must-win".

He said: "The key is, if you get a point you've got to beat them at home, and likewise, when you get a point at home to Austria you've got to make sure that when you go over there the minimum you get is a point as well.

McCall says it's not all doom and gloom in the World Cup qualifying campaign (David Haber/scunthorpelive)

"I'm not having this doom and gloom, it's an OK point. It could have been better, but at the same time it could have been a lot worse.

"There are eight games to go. I think Steve made the point that we're playing against the Faroes and Austria are playing Denmark, so we could be sat second.

"At this moment in time we would like three points from last night, but Israel, middle to front, are a dangerous side.

"Defensively I think we could have done better against them, but taking into account that we have the game coming up that we should get three points from, then the league table will naturally look better.

"Israel started better, but I think once they did make the change at half-time, Scotland looked more assured, they played higher up the park, put the press higher and looked a better side for it.

"I think it's horses for courses. What has brought us success has been the back three, but certainly last night Steve saw 'plan A' wasn't working so you bring your 'plan B' out, it got more players into the middle of the park, we looked a threat, squeezed the game higher up, hence the goal that we get, and we just looked better for that.

"In some games you'll need a back three, but I think he made the right call at half-time.

"It's a must win against the Faroes. I wouldn't say last night was must-win, we had to come away with at least a point and thankfully we did. Faroes is a must-win game, there's no doubt about that."

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