Steve Clarke hopes Kieran Tierney overcomes his injury to train at Arsenal this week, so the defender can represent Scotland in their November internationals, via the Daily Record.
Tierney has not featured for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners since October 18 due to an ankle issue. Yet Clarke has named the full-back in his Tartan Army squad for their World Cup qualifiers with Moldova and Denmark. Scotland only need three points to guarantee a Play-off spot.
The Emirates Stadium outfit have won both of their Premier League fixtures against Aston Villa and Leicester without the 24-year-old. They also beat Leeds in the Carabao Cup, with £7m summer signing Nuno Tavares impressing in place of Tierney.
Clarke is aware of Tierney’s issue, but hopes to hear positive updates on his availability this week. Noting: “He’s injured, he’s working on it. Hopefully, he’ll do a bit of training this week and he’ll be fine to join up with us.”
Arteta had offered a sombre update on Tierney’s injury following Arsenal’s win at Leicester. The Gunners boss stated, via football.london: “He didn’t train with the team yesterday [on Friday]. He wasn’t feeling good, is still in pain and was struggling with his running. We need to help him as much as possible, get him back, but I don’t know when that will be.”
Clarke positivity on Tierney injury good news for Arsenal?
Clarke waiting for positive updates on Tierney potentially training at Arsenal this week may suggest Arteta’s concerns will soon ease. The Scotland manager is clearly optimistic on his chances of calling on the 27-cap full-back during the upcoming international break.
Tierney would be a big miss for the Tartan Army if his injury rules the £110k-a-week Arsenal ace out. He has only missed one of their last 16 fixtures across all competitions dating back to November last year. While also playing all but 32 of 1,350 available minutes.
However, while Clarke will be glad to have Tierney available, Arteta may fear the full-back aggravating his injury if overused. The Arsenal boss has clear concerns the issue may be a long-term problem, and will want to avoid unnecessary risks.
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