Beaming Kris Boyd couldn’t resist a dig at his English colleagues after Scotland leapfrogged England into League A of the Nations League.
Our near neighbours were relegated from the top section after a draw with Germany as they warmed up for this year’s World Cup with a disappointing campaign. In contrast, Scotland have recovered from a chastening defeat in Ireland to top their group to secure promotion and secure a Euro 2024 playoff place.
Steve Clarke ’s men knew a point against Ukraine in Krakow would be enough to seal top spot at their opponents expense. A convincing 3-0 win over the same opponents at Hampden was followed up with a come-from-behind victory over Ireland at the weekend, setting up the Tuesday night showdown. Clarke didn’t have his troubles to seek. Injury, suspension and illness robbed him of several key stars, especially in defence. But the likes of Ryan Porteous and Aaron Hickey stepped up to the plate and put their bodies on the line to earn a vital clean sheet.
Covering the game for Sky Sports, former Scotland striker Boyd made sure to remind his peers in the London studio that it will be the Scots mixing it with the big boys in this competition next year.
He said: “I can smile now and you’ll have to support Scotland, because we’ll be the only British team in League A for the next one coming around!
“I touched on it earlier and for the majority of the night but Scotland defensively were outstanding tonight. When you look at it, Robertson, Tierney, hanley, McKenna, Patterson, Cooper, Souttar, McTominay’s played there as well - all missing tonight.
“But in came Hickey, Hendry, Porteous, Greg Taylor. Then Kingsley came on, Ralston came on. I know the old cliche is that you defend from the front, but those four tonight were outstanding, especially that partnership of Hendry and Porteous.”
Boyd has been scathing when analysing Porteous domestically. The centre back has made some rash decisions and been involved in several high profile incidents, especially against Boyd’s former club Rangers.
But the pundit couldn;t speak highly enough of the one-time Edinburgh City loanee’s contribution for his country. “There’s a lot of criticism for Ryan Porteous, sometimes for the way that he behaves and gets caught up in other things,” said Boyd. “But tonight he just stuck to his job and he was outstanding.
In terms of holding that high line, I had full confidence in his defending, but also his pace to get back in if they exploited it. The exact same with Hendry.
“Hickey at right back was outstanding, Greg Taylor too. Hendry over the piece, he hasn’t played a lot of football but he’s come in and played the three games for Scotland in this short period of time. He got himself on the scoresheet as well and can be really pleased with his performance.
“Steve Clarke will be delighted with that back four because they have been patched up. But every single one of them have defended. When I go back through that list of players there, if any country - any top country - had to miss that amount of players defensively, they would struggle. Never mind Scotland.
“It just shows you the quality we’ve got in this squad right now and they deserve every plaudit they’re going to get. From where they were, that’s three victories and four unbeaten.
“From the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup with Ukraine defeating us at Hampden earlier this year, Scotland have responded. Into League A and it’s a big night for Scottish football and everybody connected should be proud.”
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