Two Celtic stars named in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·26 agosto 2025

Two Celtic stars named in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad

Scotland manager Steve Clarke has included Celtic duo Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston in his squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus…

20th June 2023; Hampden: Euro 2024 Qualifier, Scotland versus Georgia; Kieran Tierney of Scotland on the ball.

Clarke has selected a 25-player squad for the upcoming away fixtures, featuring Brendan Rodgers’ current first-choice full-backs, left-back Tierney and right-back Ralston, after Alistair Johnston was sidelined with a hamstring injury last week against Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park.

OneFootball Video

Scott McTominay of Scotland celebrates scoring the opening goal with Anthony Ralston and other teammates Greece v Scotland, UEFA Nations League, Play-offs, First Leg, Football, Stadio Georgios Karaiskki, Athens, Greece – 20 Mar 2025. Photo Costas Baltas/Shutterstock

Tierney has represented his country 50 times, and Ralston 21 times, with both players having scored one goal for the national team.

Scotland will begin their World Cup qualifying journey against Kasper Schmeichel’s Denmark on September 5, then face Belarus three days later, with Greece completing the four-team group, and Clarke’s men set to play them at Hampden in October for the second international break of the season.

The Scotland boss’ squad for next month’s two fixtures features several former Celtic players, including Jack Hendry of Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, as well as ex-Hoops midfielders Ryan Christie and Ben Gannon Doak, who now ply their trade at Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth.

As for Ben Doak, he finalised his £25 million transfer from Liverpool to The Cherries last week, with Arne Slot’s side retaining a buyback option on the young winger, who made two appearances for Celtic’s first team back in 2022. Celtic received a transfer fee of around £600k at the time and are now looking at collecting another £2m in a sell-on clause payment from Doak’s move to Bournemouth.

Full-backs Andy Robertson and Aaron Hickey both spent time in Celtic’s academy, but eventually left and established their careers with other clubs.

Steve Clarke looks on prior to the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A1 match between Scotland and Portugal at Hampden on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Euan Cherry/Getty Images)

Hickey, once linked with a return to Celtic while he was at Hearts and Bologna, has been recalled to Clarke’s squad for the first time in two years following his recovery from a major hamstring injury sustained in 2023.

He is set to compete with Ralston for the right-back role, while Tierney aims to contest Robertson for the left-back spot in his first squad inclusion for his country since rejoining Celtic.

Scotland 08/06/2025. Press and training Ross Doohan during the Scotland National Team training session before travelling to Liechtenstein, photo Colin Poultney PSI

There was no room for former Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon who remains sidelined with an injury. Despite making his debut in the last camp against Liechtenstein, the Hoops’ third-choice goalkeeper Ross Doohan failed to make the cut.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Steve Clarke has named his first squad of our World Cup Qualifying campaign. 🎟️ The campaign starts away to Denmark and Belarus, before matches at Hampden Park in October and November: https://t.co/BRhAhPsOmw
– lunedì 25 agosto 2025

Conor Spence

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image to join.