SCotland boss Steve Clarke insists selecting Aberdeen defender Andy Considine for the upcoming away triple header was an ‘easy’ decision.
Considine, 33, has been named in Clarke’s 27-man squad for the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia in Belgrade on November 12.
The Scots will then face Slovakia (November 15) and Israel (November 18) in the Nations League groups.
Considine was a late call up to the squad last month due to injuries but was handed a debut cap when starting in the 1-0 defeat of Slovakia at Hamdpen.
He retained his starting slot for the 1-0 defeat of the Czech Republic. Clarke insists he was fully deserving of a place in his squad after ‘terrific’ performances.
On Considine, he said: “It was an easy choice as Andrew played two games last month and was terrific in both. He fully deserves his place in the squad.
“Andrew came into the last camp late with not a lot of time to work with the lads, but showed his experience and qualities on the pitch.
“I knew when I put Andrew in that he would acquit himself well. It wasn’t like I was taking a stab in the dark.
“The good thing for me is that I worked in Scottish football for 20 months before I took the national job, so I know the qualities these boys have got.”
Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths has been named in the squad having made just five appearances in the Premiership this season.
Griffiths has not played for his country since September 2018 but Clarke insists the quality of his goal in the 3-3 draw with Aberdeen underlined his importance.
Clarke said: “Leigh’s qualities speak for themselves. The goal he scored against Aberdeen recently in the league showed what he has got.
“What Leigh gives us is quality inside the 18 yard box. He’s obviously not fully match-fit because he’s starting almost every game for Celtic on the bench.
“But then he’s also shown that he can come on and be a threat in the opposition box.
“So if you need someone to come off the bench, as well as Lawrence Shankland or Oli McBurnie or Ryan Fraser I also have an option with Leigh. The more options I have the better.”
Scotland are bidding to secure qualification to a major finals for the first time since the World Cup in France in 1998.
Clarke said: “I know the first game (Serbia) is really important because that’s the one-off game for qualification Hopefully we can get the country back to a major finals”
Clarke has named a large 27 man squad to cope with any eventuality – be it injury or Covid related.
Your Scotland squad to take on Serbia, Slovakia and Israel.
Let’s do this. pic.twitter.com/7uaXn2OdHO
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) November 3, 2020
He said: “If you look at the injuries we suffered last month and also the Covid incident in camp it shows anything can happen at any time.
“You have to be prepared to deal with that. It was a little bit easier to deal with last time because we had three home games.
“Now we are going on a road trip. When we leave for Serbia we don’t come back. We leave Serbia for Slovakia and then out to Israel.
“It made sense to have a bigger squad.”
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