Chris Sutton has given his verdict on Anthony Ralston after the defender made a key mistake during Scotland’s game against Switzerland at Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke’s Scotland have struggled so far at the 2024 European Championships in Germany as the national team have picked up just one point so far.
Scotland suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany, who were brilliant on the night but things could have been a whole lot different.
After this, Scotland drew 1-1 against Switzerland and this was after they took the lead through a deflected effort from Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay.
Sutton on Ralston’s mistake
Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston was blamed for the brilliant equalising goal by Xherdan Shaqiri after a pass from Grant Hanley put the defender under all sorts of pressure.
Writing in his column for the Daily Record, former Celtic forward Chris Sutton believes the criticism of the defender has been unfair.
“He’s taken some stick after his part in the Swiss goal the other night but he was brutally unlucky,” Sutton wrote. “It just happened to fall right in the path of Xherdan Shaqiri but the finish was out of this world. It was an error but the punishment was brutal.
“I’ve said before, I love Ralston’s attitude and spirit. He only started eight games for Celtic last term but he refuses to hide. His team-mates didn’t make it easy for him the other night either.
“The pass from Grant Hanley put him under severe pressure and Jack Hendry has constantly put him on the back foot in this competition so far by playing balls either behind him or with not enough pace.
Ralston has to atone for error in Scotland’s next match
Scotland’s final game of the Euro 2024 group is against Hungary and Clarke’s side simply have to win this game to have a chance of qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.
As for Ralston, the defender was certainly promising for Celtic as the club won the Scottish Premiership title after finishing eight points clear of Rangers and he has to prove himself during .
The defender featured in 15 games for Celtic last season and laid on two assists for the club.
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