HEAD coach Ricky Sbragia would be delighted to never see young Celtic star Kieran Tierney in his Scotland Under-21 side.
The 18-year-old left-back, who has become a regular at Parkhead this season, has only been capped up to Under-19 level but was included in Gordon Strachan’s squad for Scotland’s friendly against Denmark on March 29 at Hampden Park.
Sbragia, preparing for the European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches against France and Northern Ireland, is happy to see Tierney, and for that matter Oliver Burke, the 18-year-old Nottingham Forest player who received his first call-up to the senior squad having only played for the Under-19s, to get their chance with Strachan’s side.
He said: “We took Tierney to the Czech Republic with the Under-18s, he was involved in the two games. He has, over the last three or four months, been thrown into Celtic’s first team. He would have been with us, the 21s, but for me I would love him not to play at 21s. I would love him to keep continuing to play in the A squad.
“I think that is what it’s all about. We know the importance of results, I am not saying everything is always about development. But for Kieran, even Burkey, what an opportunity to play at the top level of international football.”
Under-21 captain John McGinn has also been drafted into the full squad for the Denmark match but despite the importance of the the game in France on March 24 – Scotland sit fourth in Group 3 with five points from four games – Sbragia did not consider asking for the Hibernian midfielder to bolster qualification chances.
He said: “People were saying, ‘would you want him for France?’ No, I wouldn’t want him for France. I wouldn’t deny him that opportunity, to be fully fit to report for the A squad. I think it is fantastic with John, how he has performed for Hibs over the season and what a fantastic opportunity it is.”
The young Scots are up against it in their bid to progress from their group but Sam Nicholson is not giving up hope they can spring a surprise against the top-quality French.
The Hearts 21-year-old said: “Last time we played France, we noticed they have a lot of massive players. There was a player [Adrien Rabiot of PSG] that played last week in the Champions League, for example. That shows you the standard.
“I thought we did well against them. They won 2-1 but we worked well against them and hopefully we can carry that on to the next game.”
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