Steve Clarke has admitted he is “hoping and praying” that Billy Gilmour will be fit enough to travel with Scotland to the World Cup tomorrow.
The Napoli midfielder hobbled off during the first half after taking two heavy challenges, injuring his right knee in the 4-1 victory over Curacao at Hampden.
Gilmour is now facing a scan that will determine whether he can participate in Scotland’s first World Cup in 28 years.
Should the injury rule him out, Manchester United teenager Tyler Fletcher could be in line for a sensational call-up after making his debut off the bench against Curacao.
Fletcher is the son of Scotland legend Darren Fletcher, and his confident performance after coming on at half time has thrust him firmly into Clarke’s thinking.
Scotland signed off before the tournament with a convincing 4-1 win over 10-man Curacao, with goals from Lawrence Shankland’s double, Findlay Curtis’ first international goal, and a late Ryan Christie penalty.
Clarke was asked directly whether he was concerned about Gilmour and did not hold back, saying “Yes, 100 per cent worried.”
“He’s gone for a scan now,” Clarke added. “I’m sitting here, hoping and praying he’s on the plane.”
Clarke said the final decision rested entirely with his medical team, explaining “it’s way above my head at this moment in time.”
He confirmed Gilmour made the decision himself to leave the field, saying “he hurt himself in the tackle and then made the decision he had to come off so that tells you he himself knew it wasn’t right.”
Connor Barron, Andy Irving and Lennon Miller are all on standby for potential call-ups, but Fletcher’s debut performance has complicated Clarke’s selection options considerably.
The 19-year-old had only been invited into the pre-World Cup camp for experience, but his assured display left a strong impression on both players and coaching staff.
Clarke acknowledged Fletcher’s performance created a welcome problem, saying “Good headache though. We have Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller and you can see for yourself how good young Tyler is. It will keep me awake tonight.”
Clarke revealed Fletcher was actually close to coming on earlier, saying “I actually thought about putting him on as Billy came off, but I just thought I’d have a little look to see how the game panned out before introducing him at half time.”
On the match itself, Clarke noted Curacao provided a useful test ahead of Scotland’s opening Group C game against Haiti on June 13, admitting “11v11 they were the better team.”
Several first-team regulars including Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Lewis Ferguson, Che Adams, and Kieran Tierney were absent after joining the squad late on Friday.
Shankland capped a memorable week, having signed for boyhood club Rangers, with a clinical double, while his new Ibrox teammate Curtis scored in only his second international appearance.
Clarke also confirmed that Angus Gunn will start in goal for next week’s final warm-up friendly against Bolivia, despite Craig Gordon being handed a squad number.
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