Scott McTominay experience should boost Scotland chances – Sebastien Pocognoli
Sebastien Pocognoli is relishing being able to welcome Scott McTominay’s experience back to the Scotland squad after the midfielder returned to selection following his recovery from a health scare.
The 29-year-old underwent heart surgery in September and missed the first Nations League camp but, after scoring four times on his return to Napoli, he is back in the fold for the double-header this month’s against North Macedonia and Switzerland. Torino striker Che Adams, who was absent last time out due to a muscle strain, returns while there is a first call-up for defender James Penrice, currently on loan at Rangers from Greek side AEK Athens. Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney withdrew from the first squad but returns while centre-back Scott McKenna misses out after reportedly picking up a back strain playing for Dinamo Zagreb, with Josh Doig, Colby Donovan, James Wilson and Lennon Miller dropping out. Speaking at Hampden Park, Pocognoli, 39, said: “I have been in contact with Scott from the first day. “He missed the first camp with some physical problem. “We were still in contact during the rehabilitation, when he came back on the pitch. “He’s one of the captains so there’s a special contact with them, but he’s looking forward to come, to play for us, to play in a different way, on the pitch and he is very positive, so that’s important. “Plenty of experience back in the squad. “With Scott, with Che, with Kieran, he’s also back, so if you accumulate the caps, we have some experience that will be useful for this camp and to also embrace the young lads because we still have a young squad with many players who don’t have a lot of caps. “So I’m sure the mix will be good and these (experienced) players will also show the way for them.” Scotland are third in Group B1 with four points from four games, three points behind Slovenia and eight behind runaway leaders Switzerland. The Scots host North Macedonia at Hampden on November 13 with a trip to Switzerland three days later. With one eye on the forthcoming 2028 European Championship qualifiers, the Belgian boss said: “I’m looking forward to working with everybody, but for sure we want to see most of the players just to have as much information as possible to start the qualification for the Euros (qualifiers). “All what I want to do now is to get the most out of this, to know my squad as deep as possible, to see the body language, the attitude of the players in some situations, and to have most of the information to start the big job.” On the issue of a first call-up for 27-year-old former Livingston, Hearts and Partick Thistle defender Penrice, Pocognoli said: “Like I said in the first camp, we have a list of players that we select regarding the performance at their clubs, but also the style of play or the way that we want to play. “We have some missing players around the left side. “So, combined with his quality and what we are looking for on the pitch, it’s a logical choice for me and it can be very useful for the system that we want to play and also I think he deserves it.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub