Arsenal 25yo withdraws from international duty with injury | OneFootball

Kieran Tierney has withdrawn from the Scotland squad ahead of their final game of the break against Ukraine, following his precautionary injury substitution on Saturday.

The Scotland National Team confirmed on Sunday that Kieran Tierney is out of the Scotland squad, withdrawing along with Scott McKenna and Scott McTominay.

In Tierney’s case, this raises some concerns for Arsenal fans ahead of the north London derby, as it may suggest he’ll miss that game through injury.

Tierney had started both of Scotland’s games over the international break so far, but he came off after just 42 minutes with an apparent head injury.

At the time, the problem didn’t seem particularly serious, at least based on the words and actions of the player and his manager.

Tierney seemed to be trying to convince the medical staff to let him stay on, and Steve Clarke said after the game that the left-back was okay, adding: “We took Kieran off as a precaution.”

Obviously, the decision to withdraw Tierney from international duty isn’t a great sign, but perhaps the medical staff are just following protocol. Head injuries tend to inspire a little more caution than other problems in the current footballing climate.

The upshot of all this is that Arsenal will be sweating on the fitness of Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of the north London derby on Saturday. At this point, it’s not clear which of them will be available to feature in the match – if either.