Andy Robertson Misses Scotland Fixture With Hamstring Injury
By Tom Gott
Liverpool's Andy Robertson has been dropped from Scotland's squad to face Slovakia on Sunday after manager Steve Clarke confirmed he was struggling with a hamstring issue.
The Liverpool left-back confessed that his hamstring had seized up towards the end of Scotland's dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Serbia on Thursday, and he was terrified that he would have had to take a penalty with a dead leg.
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Clarke confirmed (via the Daily Record) that Robertson was 'doubtful' for Sunday's game as a result of the issue, and when the team to face Slovakia was announced on Twitter, his name was nowhere to be seen.
The left-back will play no part in the game as he has been left out of the squad altogether, but it is not currently known just how serious Robertson's issue is.
It's possible that Robertson is simply being protected. Scotland are heavy favourites for Sunday's Nations League game and will expect to win without the Liverpool man, so Clarke may have decided to give Robertson a well-earned rest.
"It was a physically draining game but emotionally also very, very draining for the players who were out on the pitch," Clarke said of Thursday's win over Serbia. "It was a long game, 120 minutes, so the players were physically and emotionally very tired."
It's news which will have Liverpool fans sweating as pretty much their entire defence is currently out with injuries.
Centre-back Joe Gomez recently joined Virgil van Dijk on the treatment table after picking up his own serious knee injury while on international duty with England, and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has also been struck down with a calf injury.
Robertson was one of just three fit senior defenders in Jurgen Klopp's side - fellow left-back Kostas Tsimikas and Joel Matip are the only other survivors - but now the Scot's involvement in Liverpool's meeting with Leicester on Sunday is up in the air.
Klopp is already expected to deploy a makeshift defence which could include midfielders James Milner and Fabinho alongside a whole host of academy stars, with right-back Neco Williams in contention alongside centre-backs Rhys Williams, Nat Phillips, Sepp van den Berg and Billy Koumetio.