Some Thoughts on Celtic...Erm, I Mean Scotland Vs England

With things relatively quiet at Celtic Park, we thought we'd have a look at Scotland's game against England at Hampden Park tomorrow, which could see up to five Celtic players in the starting line-up for Scotland.

Six Celtic players have been chosen in the Scotland squad, and two ex-Celts in David Marshall and Charlie Mulgrew, but it seems that James Forrest, who lost his place at Celtic towards the end of the season will be on the bench. Craig Gordon should start in goal, his form for Celtic this season has recovered very well from an indifferent start, even in the recent Scottish Cup final win when called upon in the first-half he made some vital saves.

Kieran Tierney will play, but in his Scotland position of right-back instead of his more normal left-back position, which is occupied by Andy Robertson of Hull. That won't deter Tierney though, who is so determined to play in the game that he is having a gum shield fitted so that his recent mouth injury doesn't affect him. Great commitment to the cause and I would expect him to have a good game.

Scotland's midfield could easily have been made up of Celtic players, but with Callum McGregor harshly overlooked it'll be down to Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong to hold the fort. This is the type of game Brown revels in, probably the international game that's most similar to a Celtic-Rangers game, and his tenacity will be vital to Scotland's chances of getting a good result. Stuart Armstrong will be eager to continue his good form, as he was man of the match in his Scotland debut against Slovenia in March. The only downside to Armstrong having another great game could be that his many suitors could put in a bid for him, as he still hasn't signed a new contract yet, but that's a worry for another day.

Up front, you would imagine that Leigh Griffiths should start but he didn't have the best of games against Slovenia and it wouldn't surprise me if the cautious Gordon Strachan started with Chris Martin and Griffiths has to settle for a place on the bench.

Prediction time: Scotland's chances of qualifying for Russia 2018 are really hanging by a thread, and we need a win tomorrow to keep hope alive, but unfortunately the best result I can see Scotland achieving is a 1-1 draw, with perhaps Stuart Armstrong getting the goal.