Despite losing 1-nil to the Netherlands in a friendly over the weekend, Scotland put in an impressive display.
Celtic youngster Kieran Tierney captained the country, and though he played out of position at centre-back, he did put in another commanding performance.
The 20-year-old partnered an equally versatile Charlie Mulgrew in the heart of the defence, and the Blackburn Rovers star believes Tierney’s versatility has helped solve Scotland’s problems in defence.
The Celtic man has also played at right-back in recent games for his country, while he continues to excel at his natural position – left-back.
Mulgrew was full of praises for the utility man post-game, claiming: “He’s top class. He showed his quality yet again. You see his determination. He threw himself in to it. He is a great player and he leads by example.
“He can be very happy with his performance. Can he stay in that position? I don’t see why not. He’s a top player and a great guy, who is respected by all the boys.
“I know what it’s like to shift to centre half from left back. It’s a totally different picture of the game and a different department.
“It’s not easy – but he makes it look easy. He’s now played in a lot of different positions but he’s capable of doing that.
“We’ve all heard it (the notion that the heart of the defence is a problem area for Scotland), but we just get on with the job.
“Everyone will look through the squad and pick a weakness. If it’s not there it would be another part of the team.”
Celtic have struggled with injury at centre defence this term, as the first-choice pairing of Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic have been crocked at different times of the campaign.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has had to deploy right-back Mikael Lustig and the not-so-impressive Nir Bitton in the position.
However, with Tierney’s display as a centre-back for Scotland, the Northern Irish boss can be rest assured of having one more quality option in the department.
