Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has revealed his admiration for defender Kieran Tierney as he battles to win his race to be fit in time to face England.
The 19-year-old suffered a nasty mouth injury during club side Celtic's Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen last week, which Brendan Rodgers feared would require surgery to rectify.
Despite being a major doubt Tierney is battling to earn a spot in Scotland's squad for the meeting with England, and Strachan is delighted with the mentality shown by the youngster.
"We need players to be brave and stand up and win individual battles and not be scared of the occasion or what you're playing against," he is quoted as saying by The Sun. "That's why Kieran's very important because he's not scared of anybody - but he's not arrogant either.
"He has a real belief in himself to go one to one with anybody which, as I say, is very unusual in football. Everybody wants protected. Everybody wants to go where they cannot be got. He doesn't do that. He's an old-fashioned player who likes going forward but who understands that defending is his job - to stop people playing and then attack.
"Some do it the other way about now. Some think it's nice to stroll and make 125 passes and not tackle and they think they are doing well. We asked Kieran to play at right-back in the last game. Hopefully, as a young kid, you do what the manager tells you."
Tierney has been capped three times by Scotland since making his debut in a friendly against Denmark in March 2016.
Daniel Lewis
