Seb Pocognoli’s November Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT) squad will be announced on Tuesday. Following our article on GKs, in the 2nd of our series of pre-squad announcement articles, we explore Scotland fullbacks to assess who is likeliest for a call up. This in some regards is trickier to assess than it was in the Steve Clarke era. Namely, that is since Pocognoli so far exhibits a preference for a back 3 & wing backs rather than traditional FBs. Regardless, the players listed below all have at least some history of being considered as a FB. Obviously who gets picked & where they get deployed is Pocognoli’s choice.
Published stats are as at date of article publication. Stats in linked sources change with the passage of time.
Josh Doig
| Age | 24 (18.05.2002) |
| Current club | Sassuolo |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.7 (4th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 2 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
September update
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 comeback 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.
Latest update
The first of the Scotland fullbacks we re-examine is getting plenty of minutes as Sassuolo first choice LB this season. However, his current 6.41 FotMob rating is backed up by similarly unconvincing stats on Flashscore. A 6′ 2″ LB who previously played CB; would he be suited to LCB in Pocognoli’s back 3?
Colby Donovan
| Age | 20 (07.09.2006) |
| Current club | Celtic |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 0 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
September update
Another player whose stats suggest 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?
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Donovan has continued to have abundant match time to showcase his abilities at Celtic, largely due to Alistair Johnston’s regrettably corn flaked anatomy. Such has been 20-year-old Donovan’s form at Celtic, he (Donovan) has been rewarded with a new contract lasting until 2031.
While selected for the most recent SMNT squad, Donovan’s closest brush with game time during that break was as an unused sub in Skopje. In the other 3 games, Pocognoli didn’t include Donovan in the match day squad. With only 2 games in the forthcoming break, speculation abounds that Pocognoli may name a squad smaller in player numbers than the 28 that he named in September. Especially if there is a reduced squad size, is Donovan one of the players most at risk of dropping out the squad?
If Donovan does miss out on Pocognoli’s November squad, the U21s have friendlies in Spain against Ukraine & USA. Donovan’s attributes would bolster an U21 squad, who have not qualified for the Euros since the 1996 team featuring Jackie McNamara, Steven Pressley, Christian Dailly & Allan Johnston. That U21 team of ’96 finished 4th. Ex-Aberdeen multi-trophy winning captain, Willie Miller, wrote in his autobiography of the importance of a ‘winning habit’, a habit the Scotland U21s regrettably seem to have been without in recent decades. A player of Donovan’s level playing in the U21s would enhance the prospects of establishing such a habit in that squad. Given the U21s have won both games played so far under Tony Docherty, they have a platform to start building on.
Aaron Hickey
| Age | 24 (10.06.2002) |
| Club | Brentford |
| Club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.5 (1st globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 25 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
September update
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? As Scotland fullbacks go, a fully fit & firing Aaron Hickey is arguably the best, at either of RB or LB. Scottish strength in depth at LB makes RB the obvious position for Hickey.
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The basic starting point with Hickey is what is his injury status? The quietly encouraging news is so far this season he has been injury free. Looking further at his game time this season, he has only played 90 minutes once. Further, he has started only 3 of the 11 Brentford league & cup games in which he has played so far this season.
That club pattern somewhat mirrors Hickey’s Scotland contribution this season. Namely, Hickey played in 3 of the 4 SMNT games with 2 of those 3 appearances being as sub.
Max Johnston
| Age | 22 (26.12.2003) |
| Club | Derby County |
| Club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 81.0 (10th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 4 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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.
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Little has improved for Johnston. He subbed on last weekend for his first 17 mins of play in Derby’s most recent 7 games. In the 3 games preceding that sub appearance, Johnston didn’t even make the match day squad.
Ross McCrorie
| Age | 28 (18.03.1998) |
| Current club | Rangers |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 2 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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.
Latest update
Like Johnston, McCrorie’s situation is largely unchanged. In Rangers’ most recent 12 games in all competitions, McCrorie has a solitary 31 mins sub appearance at Falkirk to his name. Commendably for McCrorie in those 31 mins, he assisted the 79th 2-1 winner for Lawrence Shankland.
Nathan Patterson
| Age | 25 (16.10.2001) |
| Club | Torino |
| Club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.7 (4th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 30 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
September update
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. Ché 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.
Latest update
In the context of Moyes considering Patterson neither use nor ornament at Everton, at least Patterson continues to get game time at Torino. He is though this season so far another squad player at his respective club in this list. Specifically, he has been in 7 match day squads since joining Torino, all as sub. He has accrued match time in 4 of those 7 games. However, in the game against Monza last weekend, Patterson was unfortunate to score an own goal. On the plus side, that proved inconsequential as Torino won 3-2.
Patterson played once in the last international break, in the 3-0 home defeat by Switzerland. Patterson was part of a 10 man team for 49 of the 59 mins he played, following Jack Hendry’s red card on a sobering night for the Scots.
James Penrice
| Age | 27 (22.12.1998) |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Current club | Rangers (on-loan from AEK) |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 0 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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 call up among the Scotland fullbacks?
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Firstly it is fair to acknowledge the Hearts fans out there pointing out across social media, ‘We said he’s a good player long before he was anywhere near Rangers.’
While Pocognoli didn’t call up Penrice in September for the internationals, Penrice has continued as first choice LB for Rangers. Penrice’s challenge is persuading Pocognoli to choose him (i.e., Penrice), who while cranking out good stats, is playing in the Opta 38th-ranked division globally. Penrice has a current 7.16 FotMob rating, clearly higher than the current 6.41 of Josh Doig who Pocognoli previously selected. Doig though has in his favour that he plays regularly in a top 5 rated division. Also, Kieran Tierney has returned to first team action after injury, creating further competition for Penrice. And of course Pocognoli has given no indication of taking the captaincy from Andy Robertson. Hence, can Penrice realistically expect a call up unless those above him in the pecking order get injured?
Longer term, Penrice’s international prospects could deteriorate. 23-year-old Tuur Rommens is back in the Rangers first team squad after a 2 month absence. It thus remains to be seen how much game time Derek McInnes gives Penrice if Rommens remains fit. Correspondingly, even if Penrice understudies Rommens, Penrice may still accrue game time, given Rommens’ absence record in the last 12 months.
Also, while not immediate competition internationally for Penrice, Josh Edwards has recently returned to the Charlton first team squad after a 12 month ankle injury. Charlton are in their 2nd season since promotion back to England’s 2nd tier. Ex-Dunfermline & Airdrieonians player Edwards, was an important player for Charlton prior to that injury.
Anthony Ralston
| Age | 27 (16.11.1998) |
| Club | Celtic |
| Club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 29 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
Ralston’s 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 among Scotland fullbacks. 29 full caps including appearances at both Euro 24 & World Cup 26, Ralston has an international career most people can only dream of.
Latest update
Little change for Ralston. The only additional Celtic first team minutes he has chalked up is 10 mins last month in the 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros. He has been no closer to domestic first team football this season than 4 unused appearances on the bench.
Calvin Ramsay
| Age | 23 (31.07.2003) |
| Current club | St Mirren (on-loan from Liverpool) |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 1 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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.
Latest update
Similar to Hickey & Patterson, a major plus point with Ramsay is that he is currently uninjured & attaining first team minutes. In Ramsay’s case, he is a first team regular since joining the Paisley men. Looking at Ramsay’s individual stats, as a headline he has a 6.76 FotMob rating for his 9 Saints games so far. Looking at those games individually, he has big swings in his ratings for individual games, from 5.9 to 8.2. While not identical, Flashscore credit Ramsay with similarly erratic ratings.
Maybe (or not) of greater interest to Pocognoli is Ramsay’s positional deployment reported by FotMob in those 9 games:
| RB | 6 games |
| RWB | 1 game |
| RM | 2 games |
Ramsay’s 2 most recent games are the 2 they credit him as playing RM. Ramsay scored in the 2-1 home win against Dundee in the first of those 2 games at RM.
Andy Robertson
| Age | 32 (11.03.1994) |
| Club | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.5 (1st globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 101 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
September update
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?
If Robertson plays 3 more Scotland games, he will reach 100 caps, 2 short of Kenny Dalglish’s record.
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Robertson played all 4 games for Pocognoli in the last international break reaching SMNT 101 caps. Perhaps selecting Robertson was made easier for Pocognoli by Tierney’s unavailability at the time due to injury? Given Pocognoli seems intent on retaining Robertson as captain, Robertson is on track in this forthcoming international both equal & surpass the SMNT appearances record of the great Dalglish.
As profiled by Adam Clery, things are looking up domestically Robertson & his Spurs team mates. Specifically they have lost only once in their last 6 games, with wins in both of their last 2 games framing their league position much more encouragingly. Specifically, bottom earlier this season, they are now up to 14th in their 20 team division.
FotMob now rate him at 6.95 for Spurs, up from a much ropier 6.6 before the previous international break. He has 2 assists in his 7 Spurs games so far. While a small sample size of data, that is a similar ratio to his peak years at Liverpool unsurpassed as a LB anywhere in Europe. Reflecting for a moment on Robertson’s peak years, how many countries in Europe at the time could boast a better pair of LBs to choose from than Robertson & Tierney?
Congratulations Andy on reaching that commendable 100 cap milestone that you have achieved.
Greg Taylor
| Age | 28 (05.11.1997) |
| Current club | PAOK |
| Current club division | Greek 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 78.6 (24th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 14 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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.
Latest update
Taylor so far this season at PAOK fits the profile of a squad player. E.g., in the 12 competitive match day squads in which he has been named, he started 4 times. 2 of those were in the lower priority matter in PAOK’s schedule of the Greek Cup. In the eight games in which he has actually played, he subbed on or off in 6 of those. Again the 2 games in which he has played 90 mins were both in the Greek Cup. Following his early season venture playing DM, he played LB in the most recent game that he started.
Kieran Tierney
| Age | 29 (05.06.1997) |
| Current club | Celtic |
| Club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 75.1 (38th globally) |
| Full SMNT caps | 58 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
September update
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.
Latest update
As mentioned above in the Robertson section, Tierney injected some attacking energy when he subbed on at HT for Robertson. Tierney though is yet to play for Scotland under the Pocognoli regime, missing out from Poco’s first international squad regrettably due to another injury. That is a pity given his current 7.83 FotMob rating with Flashscore mostly corroborating his usually good stats in each game.
It remains to be seen if Tierney can this time retain fitness for the forthcoming internationals. If he does, will he be first choice LWB?
