John Carver has played down injury fears regarding Andrew Robertson after the Scotland captain was led away from training in Bavaria on Monday morning. Carver, the assistant manager, insisted the medical team were being “extra cautious” with Robertson because of the disruption that has already hit the squad.
Physios raced on to the pitch in Garmisch‑Partenkirchen during a box drill session after an apparently innocuous incident involving the 30-year-old. The Liverpool left-back was taken away for immediate treatment, leading to fears he could become the latest Scot to be forced out of the European Championship. Robertson appeared in good spirits when speaking to backroom staff shortly after, with Carver similarly upbeat when addressing the media.
“He [Robertson] is fine,” Carver said. “It was a precaution, really. The ball just caught his ankle but he will train tomorrow, he will be fine. Obviously at this stage we are going to be extra cautious. But he is OK, he is fine and we look forward to him joining back in tomorrow.”
The former Newcastle coach did admit to a sense of panic at the moment Robertson required attention. Scotland lost Lyndon Dykes to a training ground injury; Nathan Patterson, Ben Doak, Aaron Hickey, Jacob Brown and Lewis Ferguson were also prevented from travelling to Germany. Carver said: “It’s never nice, is it? Especially with the luck we have had lately.”
In an amusing scene, the Scotland kit assistant, Aidan McIlduff, took Robertson’s on-field position for bounce games. McIlduff is a former Celtic youth player.
The Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland took no part in training on Monday beyond the warm-up. “He had a little bit of a niggle from the other night [the friendly against Finland] and he is in that process,” Carver said. “Obviously he had quite a lot of game time in the two friendlies we played, so we are just protecting him. Everybody has their own programme when they are coming back but he is fine, he is good.
“We have to be careful, we have to make sure we have all the science right because we are now in the tournament. We want to have everybody fit and firing for that first game. We want to make an impact.”
Stuart Armstrong and Kenny McLean are also expected to return to full training on Tuesday. Scotland kick‑off the tournament in the opening game against Germany in Munich on Friday.
