Scotland's players will stand rather than take the knee against Austria on Thursday night - and will be fully supported by their coaching staff if they ever walk off the pitch in protest at racial abuse.
Steve Clarke’s right hand man in the dugout Steven Reid is adamant the time for talking and box-ticking gestures is over and that players have had enough in the wake of the shameful abuse suffered by Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara against Slavia Prague on Thursday.
And in an ironic twist, Clarke’s side face the Czechs at the Euros this summer, with former Republic of Ireland international Reid prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with Scotland’s players if any of their team suffers similar abuse in any of their upcoming matches.
New recruit Che Adams and Sheffield Wednesday’s Liam Palmer are the two black players in the current Scotland squad that kicks off its World Cup qualifying campaign against Austria and Reid said: “I’m absolutely behind the decision. It’s getting to that stage now for me and everybody it’s about action.
“We’ve taken the knee, we’ve had individuals not taking the knee, teams not taking the knee.
“What people want to see now is action.
“The SFA are supporting this and it’s something that the staff as a whole are going to be fully behind the players a lot of the time in what they decide.
“People want to see action now, I mean proper punishments. People being held accountable for what they are saying and how they are behaving.
“That ultimately is the stage where we are at now, in my opinion.”
Asked if Scotland players would be supported if they walked off an international stage in protest, Reid added: “Absolutely, I would.
“I think we’re getting to that stage now.
“Again, talking about it, it’s now got to be about proper, meaningful action.
“Something needs to be done.
“I think time’s come on now from opinions of ‘you should never walk off the pitch’.
“Listen, it’s a player’s decision. If he’s got the support of the players and that’s the action they want to take, then I think we have to totally support that.”
