John Carver confirms three Scotland stars will miss Euro 2024 through injury

John Carver has confirmed a triple injury blow for Scotland as Steve Clarke prepares to name his Euro 2024 squad.

The national team assistant manager has confirmed that full-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson won’t be on the plane to Germany after admitting defeat in their battle with injury. Hickey, 21, hasn’t kicked a ball for Brentford since October after being sidelined with a hamstring issue. While ex-Rangers star Patterson, 22, was forced to undergo surgery with a hamstring problem last month.

The losses of both Hickey and Patterson leaves Clarke with a major selection headache at right-back, with Celtic’s Anthony Ralston likely to be drafted in. Clarke will choose his 28-man squad on Wednesday before trimming it to 26 before the tournament kicks off against Germany on June 14.

Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson was already ruled out after sustaining a nightmare cruciate ligament injury that will likely keep him out of action for the remainder of 2024.

When asked if Hickey would be unavailable, Carver told STV: “You can also throw Nathan Patterson from Everton into that as well. It’s three big players for us (including Lewis Ferguson) and three players who have done extremely well for us in the qualifiers and in recent times.

“The good thing is they are three young lads who hopefully have World Cups and Euros to come in the future, so we won’t forget about them. They have done a great job for us but it’s obviously someone else’s opportunity now because those guys won’t be with us.

“It’s no good worrying about it, we can’t affect it, so we have to be positive and the guys coming in will be competitive and this is an opportunity for them.”