FORMER Scotland assistant boss Stuart McCall is tipping Kieran Tierney to break Kenny Dalglish’s Scottish international cap record.
The impressive Celtic full-back will win his seventh cap when he lines up against Slovakia in the World Cup qualifier at Hampden on Thursday night.
That’s 95 short of the current best tally of 102 appearances, amassed by Hoops legend Dalglish between 1971 and 1986.
McCall, who won 40 caps, said: “I watch Kieran now and I genuinely can’t envisage a time in the future when he will not be in the Scotland side.
“Ten years down the line, I can see him in there, directing all the others around him.
“He really is that good. You are talking about a kid, just turned 20, who is already making a huge contribution at international level – and playing in multiple positions to help us get the very best team out on the pitch.
“At Champions League level for Celtic, too, he has been nothing short of outstanding.
“And, again in the domestic game, he has demonstrated both his versatility –playing in several different positions including left centre-back of a three – and his stamina by playing game after game.
“I have been around football for a lot of years now and I can’t remember any young player making that sort of impact.
“You look at him and you have to think Kieran is one of these guys who comes along maybe once every 20 years or so.”
McCall added: “As Brendan Rodgers and Gordon Strachan have both said, Kieran has the perfect attitude for the game.
“Off the pitch, he come across as quite humble, a young boy who is keen to listen and learn as much as he can.
“On it, though, he is a fearless man. Someone with confidence in his own ability and in that of those around him.
“He has shown no signs of having had his head turned by the success he has enjoyed so far.
“He just seems to want to push himself to do more and more.”
NEW CQN PODCAST FROM CELTIC PARK ON SATURDAY
Kevin Graham is back with a new CQN Podcast from Saturday. He talks to supporters on the bus on the way to Parkhead, interviews John Paul Taylor outside the ground and captures the atmosphere and action inside the ground before getting some more supporters’ views on the bus home after an eventful afternoon at Celtic Park.
Apologies for a few sweary words in this podcast near the end.
