Scotland manager Steve Clarke has hinted that Rangers defender Nathan Patterson will make his senior international debut in tonight’s final pre-Euro 2020 friendly against Luxembourg – but ex-Ibrox star John Fleck will have to remain in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19.
Patterson, Fleck and several other players were forced to miss the draw with the Netherlands in midweek but Clarke has confirmed he now has 25 of the 26 members of his Euro 2020 squad available.
The Dark Blues take on Luxembourg later on tonight and Clarke wants to give minutes to the players who missed the Dutch clash, as well as trying out some tactical ideas before the tournament gets underway.
“John needs to isolate until the middle of next week,” said Clarke, as quoted by Glasgow Live.
“The rest of the boys have been training as normal. Bad for John but good for everyone else.
“They trained every day so no set-backs physically. You can expect to see the others play. They are all fit and available, except for John, for the Luxembourg game which is good.
“We’ll use this game to look at one or two different things. We want to get some minutes into players whose season may have finished a little while ago and maybe look at one or two combinations that might stand us in good stead during the tournament.
“I’ve got a few things to think about overnight but it will be a good team that’s on the pitch.”
Huge night for Rangers full-back ahead of Euro 2020
One way or another it should be a huge night for Patterson with the defender either making his Scotland debut or realising he’s only with the squad to make up the numbers.
While Patterson clearly has the talent to impress at Euro 2020, it will be intersting to see whether Clarke puts his faith in him this summer.
If he does, it could well be the launchpad for Patterson to become a legitimate challenger for James Tavernier’s place at Ibrox.
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