Scotland World Cup heartbreak for injured Billy Gilmour as Steve Clarke mulls over four replacements

Gilmour trudged off in the 42 minute of the match at Hampden and after immediately leaving the national stadium for a scan, it was later confirmed on Saturday evening that the 24-year-old playmaker has been ruled out of the tournament.

“We regret to announce that the knee injury sustained by Billy Gilmour in today’s win over Curaçao will rule him out of participation in the World Cup,” the Scotland National Team wrote on social media. “We're all with you, Billy.”

Gilmour won his 46th cap during the 4-1 victory over Curacao and would likely have started Scotland’s opening Group C match against Haiti on June 14. The Napoli deep-lying playmaker has become a mainstay of head coach Steve Clarke’s squad.

Clarke now must decide who to call up for the tournament as Gilmour’s replacement, with Scotland heading to a pre-tournament training camp in Florida on Sunday.

Lennon Miller (Udinese), Connor Barron (Rangers) and Andy Irving (Sparta Prague) has been regular features in Clarke’s recent squad, but missed out on a place in the original 26-man roster for the World Cup.

However, they could all be usurped by Manchester United’s teenage midfielder Tyler Fletcher, who made his Scotland debut on Saturday against Curacao as a half-time substitute.

Fletcher - the son of former Scotland captain Darren - has yet to start a match for Man Utd, but is highly regarded at Old Trafford. The 19-year-old has the advantage of already being in the camp and impressing Clarke and his fellow coaches during training this week.

Speaking before knowing the full extent of Gilmour’s injury, Clarke said in his post-match press conference: “We have Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller and you can see for yourself how good young Tyler is. It will keep me awake tonight.

“The three I mentioned are on standby. Tyler joined us this week and trained well this week so is a little bit closer than the other three. I think he’s going to his auntie’s wedding tonight! But I would need to have a big discussion with my staff in deciding that’s the way to go.”

Scotland face Bolivia in New Jersey next Saturday in their final warm-up match before the World Cup. They are in Group C of the tournament and face Haiti and Morocco in Boston, before heading to Miami to play Brazil.

Clarke and his players are looking to become the first Scotland team to reach the knock-out stages of a major tournament. Finishing in the top two will guarantee that, while the eight best third-placed teams will also reach the round of 32.

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