The Scottish FA have announced that the first Scotland squad of new boss, Seb Pocognoli, will be announced on Tuesday. With the new broom picking the first squad of the post-Steve Clarke Scotland era, there’s much anticipation to see how different the squad looks, under the new era of modernity promised by the SFA’s Chief Football Officer, Craig Mulholland. Following our piece on GKs we next ask, which FBs will Poco call up? Below we run through the FB candidates for what is the first Scotland squad for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League campaign. Stats are as per time of article publication.
Josh Doig
| Age | 24 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.1 |
| Full Scotland caps | 1 |
| Year of last full cap | 2025 (away v Liechtenstein) |
| Current club | Sassuolo |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.2 (4th globally) |
A 7.1 FotMob rating playing in Serie A suggests Doig has started this season in good form. His goal in the 2-2 draw at Bologna last weekend obviously helps that rating. With data now seeming to increasingly play a role in Scotland decision making, could data help Doig’s case for the Scotland squad? Andy Robertson has been unconvincing so far at Spurs & Kieran Tierney is attempting a come back from yet another of his injuries.
Doig started his career at CB before switching to LB when on loan from Hibernian at Queen’s Park.
Colby Donovan
| Age | 20 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.4 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Celtic |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Another player whose stats suggests he is in good form. Injury to the unfortunate Alistair Johnston has so far meant plenty of minutes for Donovan this season to show what he can do. If Aaron Hickey & Nathan Patterson’s injury challenges recur, is it too much of a stretch to suggest young Donovan is worth his place in the team? Or is Donovan best left in the U21s where he’ll get plenty of match time, & help the U21s in their quest for success? Donovan is a genuine full cap prospect. Will though this Scotland squad come too soon for him?
Aaron Hickey
| Age | 24 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.28 |
| Full Scotland caps | 22 |
| Date of latest cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Haiti) |
| Club | Brentford |
| Club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.1 (1st globally) |
Hickey has subbed on in each of Brentford’s 3 league games this season, with Michael Kayode being Keith Andrews’ preferred RB so far. Kayode though was subbed off at HT in the most recent of those games, the 1-1 home draw versus Sunderland. Andrews subbed on Hickey with some success to mitigate the attacking threat of the unpredictable Nilson Angulo. Could this be the start of a run of first team starts for Hickey?
2-footed Hickey is yet to show that he is back to his tremendous form of Scotland’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. A solid run of first team club football would help his endeavours to get back to his best. The caveat with Hickey has to be though, can he stay injury free? A fully fit & firing Aaron Hickey is a huge asset in the Scotland squad at either of RB or LB. Scottish strength at LB makes RB the obvious position for Hickey.
Max Johnston
| Age | 22 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.04 |
| Full Scotland caps | 4 |
| Date of latest cap | 2025 (Home v Belarus) |
| Club | Derby County |
| Club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Not a great start to the season for Johnston so far. In & out of the Derby County squad & not giving his best showings in the 162 mins he has played spread across 6 league games so far. It seems far fetched that the Scotland squad announced next week will feature Johnston’s name.
Ross McCrorie
| Age | 28 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.62 |
| Full Scotland caps | 2 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (neutral venue v Côte d’Ivoire) |
| Current club | Rangers |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
McCrorie’s Summer transfer to Rangers hasn’t helped his case so far for the Scotland squad. Dujon Sterling has dominated the Rangers RB position this season so far and given the form Sterling has been in, that seems set to continue. McCrorie has only 69 mins of league football to his name so far this season.
Nathan Patterson
| Age | 24 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.43 |
| Full Scotland caps | 29 |
| Date of latest cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Club | Torino |
| Club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.2 (4th globally) |
Patterson’s late transfer window move to Torino is one of the most interesting & much needed from a Scotland perspective. Patterson debuted subbing on for Niccolò Fortini to play 34 mins last weekend in the 2-1 home win over Fiorentina. Che Adams scored the winner. 34 mins may not seem like much. At least though Patterson actually got minutes, unlike with Davie Moyes at Everton who seemed obsessed with playing anyone except Patterson as Everton’s RB. Onwards & upwards for Patterson at Torino & in the Scotland squad, if he can keep his injury issues in the past.
James Penrice
| Age | 27 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.24 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Rangers (on-loan from AEK) |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Penrice’s Summer move from Athens to Ibrox so far looks like a good one. Taking to life at Ibrox like a duck to water, he looks like a Rangers LB, contributing the assured performances of a Greek league title winner. Penrice’s arrival seems to have sparked a bit of an upswing in Rangers’ domestic fortunes this season. Whatever challenges Derek McInnes faces at Ibrox, at least LB isn’t currently one of them. Penrice is unfortunate with the strength of competition he faces at LB for the Scotland squad. If Tierney is unable to shake off the injury he picked up late last month, would Penrice merit a Scotland squad call up?
Anthony Ralston
| Age | 27 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.82 |
| Full Scotland caps | 29 |
| Date of latest cap | June 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Club | Celtic |
| Club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Ralston’s FotMob rating seems odd given his only competitive Celtic appearances this season are 37 mins in the Champions League ties versus LASK. Even with Alistair Johnston again injured & with Colby Donovan in Johnston’s absence moved up to first choice RB, Ralston more often than not doesn’t even make the Celtic match day squad. With the new data driven Scotland era taking off, the final curtain may have come down on seeing Tony Ralston in a Scotland squad. 29 full caps including appearances at both Euro 24 & World Cup 26, Ralston has an international career most people can only dream of.
Calvin Ramsay
| Age | 23 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.99 |
| Full Scotland caps | 1 |
| Year of last full cap | 2022 (away v Turkiye) |
| Current club | St Mirren (on-loan from Liverpool) |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Like Penrice, Ramsay has immediately benefited from his Summer move, in Ramsay’s case to Paisley. At a basic level, at least Ramsay is now clocking up first team mins, contributing 303 mins in his 4 St Mirren games so far. Saints boss Craig McLeish has not just picked up the August Manager of the Month award; his Saints side have also garnered praise for their attractive style of play. Ramsay like Hickey, Patterson & Kieran Tierney has endured an injury blighted career. Let’s see what happens if Ramsay can retain fitness. The Scotland squad next week, though, may come too soon for him.
Andy Robertson
| Age | 32 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.6 |
| Full Scotland caps | 97 |
| Date of latest cap | June 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Club | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.1 (1st globally) |
Robertson is yet another to transfer in the Summer. In his case that’s from 9 trophy laden years at Liverpool to what so far looks like Tottenham’s repeat of last year’s struggle for top flight survival. One point from 3 league games so far doesn’t make good reading. While by no means solely accountable, Robertson is yet to convince in a Tottenham jersey. Only injury though seems likely to stop Robertson’s name being in the Scotland squad to be announced next week.
And so comes one of the big questions for Pocognoli’s first Scotland games in charge, when facing Slovenia on 26 September; does Robertson keep his place as the starting LB? Did the Brazil game at the World Cup signal something of a changing of the guard, when Tierney injected some vigour after replacing the injured Robertson at HT? The Robertson / Tierney question discussed in detail in the Kieran Tierney section below, is by no means clear cut.
If Robertson plays 3 more Scotland games, he will reach 100 caps, 2 short of Kenny Dalglish’s record.
Greg Taylor
| Age | 28 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.82 |
| Full Scotland caps | 14 |
| Year of last full cap | 2024 (home v Finland) |
| Current club | PAOK |
| Current club division | Greek 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 77.4 (27th globally) |
In one of the more unexpected twists this season is that rather than returning to Celtic as some in the media touted, Taylor has not just stayed at PAOK. Specifically, new PAOK boss, Alessio Lisci, has deployed Taylor on the left side of a DM pairing. The 2nd September 0-0 home draw versus OFI Crete is the first game this season that Taylor has played 90 mins. However, he was given a straight red card 6 mins into 2nd half stoppage time. He thus missed the 3-1 defeat at Panathinaikos through suspension. Taylor hasn’t been in a Scotland squad since November 2024.
Kieran Tierney
| Age | 29 |
| Current FotMob rating | 8.27 |
| Full Scotland caps | 58 |
| Date of latest cap | June 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Current club | Celtic |
| Club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Tierney has done well for Celtic since returning there in the Summer of 2025. His preceding history of injuries is well documented. Celtic have thus generally done a good job managing his minutes, taking him off after approx. 70 mins per game. That said, Tierney missed Celtic’s first 2 games this month through injury, and started his comeback in their most recent game by subbing on in the 87th minute.
The long standing question of Scotland’s best LB; let’s exclude Aaron Hickey since he is usually deployed at RB given he is the best RB in the Scotland squad by some distance when he is at his best. Also as mentioned above, Hickey on his return from lengthy injury is yet to recover his tremendous Scotland form of 2023.
Robertson or Tierney?
32 year old Robertson is not the player he was at his peak when there was no better LB in Europe; 3 Champions League Final appearances in 4 seasons and selection for 4 different UEFA teams/squads of the year in that period. None of those accolades though have been since 2022. Tierney for his part was argued by many as the equal of Robertson. One attribute though in which Robertson has a demonstrably better record than Tierney is something touched on already; durability against injury. Robertson seems anatomically robust. Tierney anatomically at times seems to have the durability of a corn flake.
29-year-old Tierney’s HT replacement of 32-year-old Robertson v Brazil, visibly injected some much needed verve into the Scotland performance. When both are fully fit, Tierney currently seems the superior LB when compared to the declining Robertson. Tierney has better metrics in his recent club performances than Robertson. Robertson though plays in the division Opta ranks as the best in the world, 36 places higher than where Opta rank the division Tierney plays in.
We discussed in depth, who should be the Scotland captain in the post-Steve Clarke age. The overwhelming evidence seemed to be Scott McTominay. McTominay though will be out injured for 3 – 4 weeks, meaning he misses the 4 international fixtures taking place in late September & early October. That potentially increases the case for Robertson to retain the armband, possibly strengthening Robertson’s case to start at LB in Ljubljana. And regardless, Pocognoli has at least so far given no indication that he intends to give someone else the armband. With the recent changes in the coaching setup, the continuity of retaining Robertson as captain may well be a quietly sensible approach.
September & October international schedule
Scotland are scheduled to play 4 games in the forthcoming international break between 26 September & 7 October. That’s 4 games in 11 days for this Scotland squad to get through. The solution Pocognoli plumps for if both players are fully fit, may well be:
- Start Robertson in the first game & replace him with Tierney in the 2nd half
- Start Tierney in the next game & replace him with Robertson around the same time frame
- Continue rotating the 2 in that manner in games 3 & 4
Doing so protects Tierney against injury & preserves Robertson’s status in the Scotland squad as captain. This solution of course is pure speculation.
