Anthony Ralston has received a well deserved call-up for his country, after Steve Clarke turned to him following Nathan Patterson’s suspension for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Denmark on Monday night at Hampden.
Ralston, 22, has been in fine form this season for Ange Postecoglou and his Hoops side. The player has gone from zero to hero since he has been given the responsibility at right-back after a few erratic years at the club to say the least. Tony had went out on-loan various times during his Celtic career, after Brendan Rodgers brought him into the fold against European giants PSG at Parkhead in 2017.
7th November 2021; Dens Park, Dundee, Scotland: Scottish Premiership football, Dundee FC versus Celtic; Anthony Ralston of Celtic
The young player has turned his whole career trajectory around, and it is credit to his character and temperament that he has become a Celtic stalwart this year. In fact, Ralston has been so good that Ange has been forced to play Croatia full-back Josip Juranovic out of position at left-back, as Tony has been playing with such desire and quality on the right hand side of the defence.
Calls were being made long before the current international break to see Anthony given the honour of playing for his country, especially taking into account his present form for Celtic. It left a lot of bemused faces when Steve Clarke left the young Scot out of his provisional squad for the bout of fixtures in mid-November. The outcry was for Clarke to look at his statistics this past while alone, which clearly point towards a footballer in a purple patch.
Not to worry though, as this has all been resolved and Anthony Ralston will receive a gift that his performances and attitude are deserving of.
Scotland manager, Steve Clarke said of the choice as reported by Scottish Sun: “We’ve called Tony up to the squad to cover for Nathan’s suspension, as reported by Scottish Sun. Celtic play in a different way to us, but he has attributes that could make him a good wing-back or right-back. It will be good to have him in the camp and we’ll have a look at him in training.”
If Clarke has any sense, Ralston will be one of the first names on the team sheet come kick-off time against the Danes on Monday night. Hopefully Scotland can get something from the match with the help of our courageous right-back.
Well done Tony!
Paul Gillespie
