Scotland call up Tyler Fletcher as Billy Gilmour's World Cup dream shattered
The 19-year-old is on the plane for the USA after just one cap and no starts for Manchester United
Last updated 2 hours ago
Manchester United youngster Tyler Fletcher has been catapulted into Scotland's World Cup squad after Billy Gilmour's dream was ripped from him due to a knee injury in yesterday's Hampden farewell victiry over Curucao.
Fletcher, the 19-year-old son of former Scotland captain Darren, was handed his international debut after coming on at half-time in the 4-1 friendly win over the tiny Caribbean nation who are also competing in North America.
The teenage midfielder has only made two brief subsitute appearances for the Man United first team - now he's off to the USA.
Fletcher was one of five young players given the chance to join Scotland for training over the past week and made a big impression on boss Steve Clarke.
However, there were more experienced players already on standby for the 26-man squad.
Clarke said on Saturday when assessing his options: “Obviously I’ve got Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller, and you see for yourself how good young Tyler is.
“The three that I mentioned are on standby. Obviously Tyler joined us this week. He’s trained well this week so he’s a little bit closer than the other three.”
Gilmour did the damge in the first half yesterday.
"I am devastated for Billy because he has been an integral part of our World Cup qualifying campaign," said Clarke.
"The timing of this injury is so, so cruel and we all feel for him.
"He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and a person and while no words will give him any comfort, I am certain Billy will have many major tournaments ahead of him in the future."