THERE were many questions waiting to be answered on Sunday night at Hampden Park but there was one everyone should really have known what the answer would be.
Could Kieran Tierney play at right-back? How silly. Of course he could. This lad seems capable of just about anything.
The Celtic teenager, it’s scary to think he doesn’t turn 20 until June, took a while to get used to playing on the other side of a back four against Slovenia, there was a rare moment or two of hesitancy, but once he got going you would have thought he’d played there all his life.
By the second-half, Tierney was rampaging down the right as he ordinarily does on the left, beating defenders and putting in good balls with his weaker foot. He also hardly allowed Slovenia any sort of attack in his part of the pitch.
“I don’t know about that,” was the reply for Tierney when asked if right-back would be his position from now on. It won’t be for Celtic but will be for Scotland.
“I was asked to do a job in there and I worked hard all night. That’s all I could do. It was good. It’s just defending. It’s a bit harder for me on my weaker side but I worked hard all week in training to get uses to it.
“The gaffer and the coaching staff were giving me a lot of tips and pointers. It’s not completely natural as you’re on the opposite side but hopefully I did my bit for the team.
"It was a good battle out there. That’s what you want. It was a competitive match and a huge game for both teams. There was a lot of pressure on the team, maybe even more so with me playing out of position, but everybody was great with me. I did my best and worked my hardest.”
Without getting silly in terms of comparisons, watching Tierney adapt so well to playing in the ‘wrong’ position did remind Scotland supporters of a certain again about another Celtic full-back who found it easy to switch sides, as it were.
“I’ve not really had a chance to speak to Danny McGrain about it yet but I’m sure he’ll have a few things to tell me when I get back to Lennoxtown,” said Tierney “It doesn’t really matter where I play, whether it’s left or right back or in midfield, I’ll just do my best.
“I think I was 13 or 14 when I last played one or two games there but, other than that, I’ve not really played or even trained there at all.
“You can’t let anything get the better of you. The coaches were just giving me tips, trying to mirror what the left side is like. It’s obviously different being on your weaker side but you just need to try and get the principles right and I worked my hardest all day.
“I got asked the week before we went about how I would feel if I was to play right-back. I said, yeah, I would play anywhere on the pitch. It’s just the other side of the full-backs. I was thinking it would be hard for me, but I was trusted there, and that’s a lot of trust to put in a 19-year-old.
“It’s up to the gaffer if I have been playing well to pick me in the squad again.”
Tierney is a cert to get picked for the England game on June 10 at Hampden. That was always going to be a big day and now it’s not just wounded pride to play for. A win for Gordon Strachan’s men, yeah, it’s now time to get carried away, would give the Scots a real chance of second place.
There remains ifs and buts; however, the manager at least has something to plan towards other than early retirement.
And like Sunday, Strachan must play his best players and not overthink things, which he has been guilty of in the past. Six Celtic players began against Slovenia and unless form and fitness are an issue, this should happen again when our southern cousins come to town. Including Sunday night's captain.
“The England game is absolutely massive now. It was always a massive game. But it’s one we are looking forward to,” said Tierney. “It’s smack bang in the middle of the holidays but I am sure Scott (Brown) will look forward to it.
“He’s been absolutely brilliant for me since day one when I was with the under 20s. He’s helped me on the way up, all the way to the Scotland squad. I hope he doesn’t retire again now. You saw him the other night, he was brilliant again. He was keeping us going, being a real leader and captain.”
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