Billy Gilmour: Scotland boss Steve Clarke ‘100 per cent worried’ about midfielder’s injury against Curacao | football news

Scotland boss Steve Clarke says he is “100 per cent worried” about Billy Gilmour after the midfielder picked up an injury against Curacao on the eve of the World Cup.

The 24-year-old fell to the turf in the first half with no one around him Scotland won 4-1 against Dick Advocate at Hampden and was promptly replaced.

Clarke revealed that Gilmour went for scans to assess the damage, but admitted he is concerned about the Napoli player’s availability for the World Cup, with Scotland’s first game against Haiti in Boston just over two weeks away.

“The big disappointment is Billy’s injury and we’re waiting for it to be assessed and we’ll find out how bad it is,” Clarke said after the game.

“He’s gone for a scan so I haven’t had a chance to speak to him, but I’m 100 per cent worried.

“He hurt himself in the tackle then decided to take himself off – he knew it wasn’t right. There’s no point in speculating, let’s wait and see what the doctors say.

“I’m sitting here hoping and praying he’s on the plane.”

Gilmour’s replacement in the game, Findlay Curtis, got his first senior international goal to bring Scotland level after falling behind against Curacao, with a Laurence Shankland double and a Ryan Christie penalty securing victory before the squad traveled to America.

‘The red card changed the momentum of the game’

Scotland struggled against Curacao in the early stages and found themselves 1–0 down after a goal by Tahit Chong but a red card for Jurgen Locadia seven minutes before the interval turned the game in Scotland’s favour, even though Clarke wanted both sides to keep their full complement on the pitch.

“The red card obviously changed the whole dynamic of the game and from there, at least against 10 we were able to create chances and get a couple of goals,” he said.

“Obviously it’s nice to win any international game, but I think it would have been better if it was 11 v 11 and then we would have been asked more questions about finding space on the pitch – can we create the chances we created against 11 against 10? It would have been better practice for us.”