Scotland stars are walking on eggshells ahead of Euro 2024 opener

• Skipper Robertson removed from training session as a precaution after pulling up with an ankle injury which is not expected to rule him out of action
• Striker Lawrence Shankland also sat out some of the session in Bavaria with what was described as a ‘persistent niggle’
• Assistant boss John Carver admits he thought Scotland were about to be rocked by yet another call-off as fear sets in so close to Friday’s opening game

SCOTLAND assistant manager John Carver says they are now being ‘extra cautious’ after injury scares for Andrew Robertson and Lawrence Shankland ahead of Friday’s Euro 2024 opener against Germany.

Manager Steve Clarke has already lost Lyndon Dykes, Ben Doak, Lewis Ferguson, Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson and Jacob Brown from his squad for the finals.

And Carver said the removal of Robertson and Shankland from yesterday’s first day of training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was a precautionary measure after so many injuries.

Fearing the worst when Liverpool left-back Robertson pulled up, Carver said: ‘I just thought, “Not another one”.

‘Thankfully, when we finished training I walked across there, had a good conversation with him and he’s fine. But you do worry.

‘We had another one with Zander (Clark) in the warm-up the other night, the same sort of thing. He hurt his ankle. And all of a sudden you are thinking the worst. But he was fine.

‘You don’t want anyone to miss out. We lost Kenny (McLean) and Jacko (Ryan Jack) last time before the Euros. I am sure those guys are thinking, “I don’t want to miss another Euros”. They don’t know how many more they have got left in them.’

Robertson hurt his ankle while Shankland is nursing a persistent niggle. Both should be able to resume training before the squad move to Munich on Thursday, ahead of the Germany game.

‘It (Robertson) was a precaution really. The ball just caught his ankle but he will train tomorrow, he will be fine. Obviously at this stage we are going to be extra cautious. But he is OK, he is fine and we look forward to him joining back in tomorrow.

‘Lawrence had a little bit of a niggle from the other night and he is in that process. Obviously, he had quite a lot of game time in the two friendlies we played so we are just protecting him. Everybody has their own programme when they are coming back but he is fine, he is good.

‘Kenny (McLean) had a little issue before the game the other night but he will probably train with us tomorrow. We are just, like I say, being extra cautious. Stuart Armstrong will be back tomorrow so that’s good news as well.

‘We have to be careful, we have to make sure we have all the science right because we are now in the tournament. We want to have everybody fit and firing for that first game. We want to make an impact.’

Carver welcomed the return of Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay to action for the first time since the FA Cup Final.

‘He was quite impressive, wasn’t he? If you think about it, he was one of the last ones to finish because of the cup final. He has been working hard behind the scenes. So it is no different for him. He came on there and looked as if he had never been away. He was on that training ground today and he will be ready and firing for sure.

‘We talk about this all the time – we only get these players on loan. They have been injured playing for their club sides. So it is just an unfortunate thing. But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we have just got to get on with it and deal with it with what we have got in front of us.’