ANDY Robertson has refused to rule out his chances of playing for Scotland in their opening Euro 2020 qualifying game against Kazakhstan here on Thursday despite undergoing surgery on a painful mouth abscess yesterday.
Robertson, the Liverpool left back and Scotland captain, was prevented from flying out of Glasgow for Astana with Alex McLeish’s squad on Sunday night by national team medical staff.
However, Peter Grant, the Scotland assistant manager, last night revealed the defender is still holding out hope of being involved when his country kick-off their Group I campaign in the Astana Arena on Thursday evening.
“He is still desperate to play and still trying to get himself back out here as well,” he said. “That's the way Andy Robertson is, that's why the manager selected him to be his captain, because he is determined to play for his country.
"He had no choice because he couldn't fly with it. The swelling and the pressure in the air was going to be a problem for him. He went straight from the plane to the hospital and he was hoping he was still going to fly, that's why we held the plane up a bit. Obviously they wanted him to get an operation done.
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"I would hope he would join up for here. He's going to see about his tooth problem today (Monday) and we will take it from there.
"Toothache is one of the worst problems you can have, but he is so determined to be part of it. He wanted to come out Sunday night. He showed that flying up straight after the game (against Fulham at Craven Cottage), how desperate he was to be here. But when he got checked out it wasn't possible for him to do that.
"If it was anybody but Andy Robertson you would say there's no chance. But knowing the way Andy is, if he thinks he's got a chance there is always a possibility. We won't rule him out."
Scotland coach James McFadden added: "There is a chance. But we won’t know until we see what the doctor says in terms of guidelines, recovery, flight risk and whatever else. We will just need to wait and see how it goes.”
Meanwhile, Grant has expressed hope that Oli McBurnie, the Swansea striker who had been sidelined with an illness, Scott McKenna, who has a thigh injury, and Callum McGregor, who returned from a calf injury on Sunday, will all be able to play against Kazakhstan.
“These guys are really up for playing,” he said. "He (McKenna) is in great hands here and he is very comfortable. But we have got to make sure he is helping Aberdeen as well as Scotland, we don't want to put him in there and it ends up seeing him out for a period of time.
"You have to trust their judgement and the judgement of the great physios and doctors we have here. Ultimately the decision will come down to Scott but going by his mindset, he is going to be available."
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