Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour has been ruled out of the World Cup after picking up a knee injury during Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Curacao.
The Scottish FA confirmed the 24-year-old Napoli player would not take part in the finals, saying: “We’re all with you, Billy.”
Napoli and Scotland team-mate Scott McTominay wrote on Instagram: “Absolutely devasted for you brother, football is a cruel game and you don’t deserve this, keep your head up. The players, staff and country love you.”
Gilmour started at Hampden but was withdrawn after pulling up in pain, with his replacement Findlay Curtis scoring Scotland’s first-half leveller.
Lawrence Shankland then netted a double after the break, with a late Ryan Christie penalty completing the comfortable victory over Curacao.
Head coach Steve Clarke said post-match he was “100% worried” about Gilmour, having requested no injuries ahead of the tournament.
“He hurt himself in the tackle and then he made the decision he had to come off, so that tells you that he himself knew it wasn’t right,” Clarke said.
Midfielder Tyler Fletcher was given his Scotland debut as a half-time substitute, with Clarke confirming the 19-year-old Manchester United player as one possible replacement for Gilmour.
Fletcher, whose father Darren is a former Scotland captain, is one of four youngsters who trained with the squad this week, though none were originally part of the World Cup squad.
Clarke also named Rangers’ Connor Barron, Andy Irving of Sparta Prague and Udinese’s Lennon Miller as players on standby for consideration.
“Those three are on standby and obviously Tyler joined us this week,” Clarke said. “He’s trained well this week, so he’s a little bit closer than the other three, but I’d need to have a big discussion with my staff and decide the best way to go.”
Former Scotland winger Neil McCann told Clarke on BBC One Scotland that Fletcher looked “really accomplished” in a holding role during his debut appearance.
Clarke responded: “Everybody was impressed – the players were impressed, the coaching staff were impressed, I had no doubts.”
Scotland midfielder Kenny McLean, who played alongside Darren Fletcher at the start of his international career, said he “can’t speak highly enough” of the teenager.
“I said to the lads after his first session, I could see something special in him, so I was glad that he’d got on today,” the Norwich City midfielder said.
McLean added: “In my first session with Scotland, Darren stood out a mile. Fortunately for us, his son is pretty similar. There’s a lot of potential, it’s about using him the right way.”
Scotland are scheduled to fly to the United States on Sunday ahead of their World Cup group matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil.
