John Carver admitted Grant Hanley’s lack of recent game time for Scotland is a concern but he remains hopeful that the injury-plagued Norwich defender can prove his fitness in time for the European Championship.
The 32-year-old was due to join up with the squad this month for the first time in a year after recovering from an Achilles problem that sidelined him from April to December last year.
Having made nine appearances since returning to action on Boxing Day, however, Hanley withdrew on Tuesday from the Scotland squad for the upcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland after missing the last two Norwich matches with an ankle injury that forced him off against Middlesbrough earlier this month.
Canaries boss David Wagner said he felt Hanley had not been “as explosive and sharp” as he was prior to his eight-month injury lay-off and that it had been agreed “to pull him out of team training and give him a proper individual programme in the next couple of weeks, or how long it will take, to get back to that level”.
Hanley was a Scotland mainstay before he got injured last Easter, but he has not played for the national team since the win at home to Spain last March.
“It is a concern because he’s one of our squad,” said Carver on Tuesday afternoon. “But it’s up to Grant to get fit again and make sure he’s OK.
“That’s one of the reasons he’s stayed behind to work with the people at Norwich. It’s important he’s in good condition.
“If he gets himself fit and starts playing again, there’s no reason why he can’t get back into this squad.”
Centre-back Scott McKenna was yesterday being assessed by national-team medics after picking up a knock playing for Copenhagen, while key duo Callum McGregor and Aaron Hickey were not named in the squad as they recover from their respective injuries.
Brentford wing-back Hickey has been sidelined since late October with a hamstring problem and, like Hanley, appears to be in a race against time to be fit.
“They’re saying he could be around two or three weeks before he’s back training with Brentford, so we’re waiting for that final medical report to find out where he is,” said Carver.
“You’ve got that situation with Aaron but there are other players too. It’s a difficult time for everyone because they’re all coming towards the end of their seasons with their clubs, playing competitive games, and we’ve just got to keep our fingers crossed that we don’t have too many injuries going into the championships.”
Scotland have selected four goalkeepers – Hearts pair Craig Gordon and Zander Clark plus Norwich’s Angus Gunn and Motherwell’s Liam Kelly – for this month’s double-header but Carver refused to divulge how game time will be carved up among the quartet, with one of them set to miss out on the final Euros squad.
“That will be down to Steve and who he selects but what it (having four keepers) has added is a huge amount of competitiveness,” he said.
“We saw that yesterday in training because every single one of them was right on it.
“Normally the first day they ease their way in but we had a small-sided game towards the end of training and the four goalkeepers were outstanding.”
Carver has been impressed with the way Hearts forward Lawrence Shankland has played his way into contention after being called up as a late replacement for Che Adams in November. Since then, the 28-year-old has scored a stoppage-time equaliser in Georgia plus 17 more goals for his club.
“I think he’s been great,” said Carver. “I’ve watched quite a bit of Hearts lately. He just gets himself in the right areas. People talk about, ‘he doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do that’, but he scores goals and they’re worth their weight in gold.”
Reid’s double sends Ocho Rios High into ISSA Champions Cup semifinals
Keanu Reid’s clinical brace fired Ocho Rios High into the ISSA Champions Cup semifinals as they secured a 2-0 victory over debutants St Catherine High in a keenly contested quarterfinal clash at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Friday.
Reid’s strikes (42nd and 56th) were the highlights of the win achieved through a disciplined defensive display and lethal counterattacks that ensured Ocho Rios’s first-ever semifinal appearance in the all-island knockout competition, as they left St Catherine High frustrated despite their dominance in possession.
While pleased with his team’s win, Ocho Rios Head coach Veron Peterkin felt the overall performance could have been better, as he acknowledged that they were aided by St Catherine’s profligacy.
“To be fair, St Catherine missed a couple of chances behind our backline, but we were fortunate that we took ours, and we missed some as well, but we have to give credit to them. Reid is a very good player; he should have scored a bit more, but at least he scored two that gave us the win. So we just have to keep him happy and healthy as we move forward,” Peterkin said in a post-game interview.
St Catherine entered the game as slight favourites and started with intent, dominating the early exchanges. Dwight Gentles nearly gave them the lead in the opening minutes, forcing Ocho Rios goalkeeper Maleek Martin into a reflex save.
Moments later, Ronaldo Stewart’s driving run sliced through the Ocho Rios defence, but his final effort rolled agonisingly wide of the upright.
Despite numerous forays into the attacking third, St Catherine’s final product lacked precision, with Tevin Grey and Kadean Young both seeing goal-bound efforts thwarted by a resolute Ocho Rios defence and the ever-alert Martin.
While St Catherine struggled to capitalize on their opportunities, Ocho Rios executed their game plan to perfection. Sitting deep and absorbing pressure, they waited patiently for their chance to counter.
Their breakthrough eventually came in the 42nd minute, when Kaneil Brown slipped a perfectly weighted pass through to Reid, who dismissed the advancing Omarion Brown in goal for St Catherine and slotted in his 23rd goal of the season to give Ocho Rios a 1-0 lead at the break.
St Catherine came out determined in the second half and pushed hard for an equaliser which they should have had nine minutes in. This, as Lavaughn Taylor delivered a dangerous cross to Gentles, whose effort sailed over the bar.
Minutes later, Grey’s deft ball into the area found Gentles again, whose header was calmly held by Martin.
Young came closest to leveling the score when his curling effort beat Martin but ricocheted off the upright, summing up St Catherine’s frustrations.
Just as St Catherine began to pile on the pressure, Ocho Rios struck again. Reid broke free on another counterattack and outpaced a scrambling defence before slotting past a stranded Brown, who had ventured well outside his penalty area.
The goal all but sealed St Catherine’s fate, and while they continued to press forward, their attempts became increasingly desperate. Young rattled the crossbar in added time in what was another cruel reminder of their missed chances throughout the match.
Ocho Rios nearly added to their tally as Brown unleashed a stinging shot from just inside the 18-yard box that was equally well-saved by Omarion Brown, who took flight to his left.
Rajaun Garrick went on another counter for Ocho Rios, but again Brown advanced well to deny them in time added.
For St Catherine’s assistant coach, Donovan Lofters, the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, as he rued his team’s wastefulness in front of goal.
“We should have led by three or four goals by halftime, but we kept missing easy chances. So if you don’t eat your dinner, someone will eat it for you, and kudos to Ocho Rios; they did eat it. We didn’t deliver today,” Lofters said.
LAFC must leave ‘egos at the front door’ for Sounders clash, says Cherundolo
Los Angeles FC head coach Steve Cherundolo instructed his players to leave their ‘egos at the front door’ ahead of their Western Conference semi-final against the Seattle Sounders.
LAFC are the highest-seeded team in the West, meaning they will have home advantage for the final if they make it past the Sounders on Sunday.
This year, the Black and Gold have already lifted silverware, the US Open Cup, and made it to the Leagues Cup final, but suffered some poor runs during the regular season and seemed to lose focus.
However, Cherundolo and his players were able to correct in time and enter the postseason with a real sense of momentum and a belief that they can go all the way.
“We’ve had a couple frank talks with the guys about checking your egos at the front door. We went through a difficult patch when we were really stretched thin in a lot of games with an impossible schedule, and we ended up coming out on top," Cherundolo said.
“I think it definitely helps to have played in games like this. But if you have not, the motivation will be much greater, so there’s give and takes.
“This particular team has experience and has some youth as well. What I really appreciate about this group is that we have different ways to break teams down depending on who we line up and how we work our bench. We have many ways to beat teams.”
Seattle, meanwhile, are hoping to rectify their poor head-to-head record against LAFC, having often found themselves on the losing end of a one-sided rivalry.
The Sounders have won just five of their 22 all-time meetings with LAFC, though midfielder Jordan Morris said his side were not afraid of the challenge lying ahead of his team-mates.
"Obviously they have gotten the better of us the last few times and it's frustrating," Morris said.
"We know how good of a team they are, but we know how good of a team we are as well and I think you see that over the back half of the season, how we played and climbed the table and got to where we are.
"So I think just having confidence, belief that we can play with anyone in this league, including this team."
Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer also alluded to potential changes in style, saying: “Well, we're not going to shy away. We're not going to change dramatically who we are,” Schmetzer said.
“We're still going to press high on goal kicks; if we have possession in their half of the field, we're going to counter-press – it's not like we're going to change everything. There are just subtle tweaks that we have to make. Because we haven't got good results against them.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LAFC - Denis Bouanga
Bouanga has scored eight goals in playoff matches since his postseason debut in 2022, including netting the only goal in LAFC’s win over Seattle in last year’s conference semi-finals. No other player has more than five playoff goals in that time.
He also has an unbeaten record against the Sounders, winning three of his four games against them (D1), while also providing three goal involvements (two goals, one assist) in those matches.
Seattle Sounders - Cristian Roldan
Roldan has been a crucial figure for the Sounders this season, missing just two games throughout the season, while also starting all 43 games he has featured in. But, he will be hoping for a better performance this time around.
After putting the Sounders ahead in their Game 2 draw with Houston via an 87th-minute goal, he put through his own net in second-half stoppage time to send the match to penalties. Roldan is the first player in MLS history to score a goal and an own goal in a single playoff match.
MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN
LAFC has won six straight matches against Seattle in all competitions, dating back to last season’s playoffs, eliminating the Sounders in last year’s postseason at the conference semi-final stage as well as knocking them out of this year’s Leagues Cup (quarter-final) and US Open Cup (semi-final).
The Black and Gold have also won six of their last seven home playoff matches, winning the other in a penalty shoot-out (vs. Philadelphia Union in the 2022 MLS Cup Final). The last visiting team to beat LAFC in a playoff match was the Sounders in the 2019 Western Conference Final.
Seattle advanced after beating the Dynamo on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Houston in Game 2 of their first round series. The Sounders have won only one of their last six road playoff matches (D1 L4) dating back to the 2017 MLS Cup Final, but that win was away to LAFC in the 2019 Western Conference Final.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LAFC – 49.5%
Draw – 25.4%
Seattle Sounders – 25.1%
Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Watford: Two-goal Gray rescues point for Rooney's side
Andre Gray scored twice against his former club to salvage a point for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they drew 2-2 with Watford on Friday.
Gray curled in an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a crucial point for Wayne Rooney's side in their bid for survival in the Championship.
The visitors made a quick start at Home Park when Ivorian striker Vakoun Bayo bundled in a cross from Yasser Larouci only eight minutes in.
Plymouth did, however, equalise against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Lewis Gibson's long ball into the box was met with a spectacular volley from Gray.
Watford regained the lead before the break when Imran Louza's free-kick was knocked back by Mattie Pollock, with centre-back Ryan Porteous on hand to steer the ball home.
But just as it looked like Watford would go home with all three points, Gray picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired home a stunning effort beyond Daniel Bachmann.
Tom Cleverley's Watford sit in fifth place and trail leaders Sunderland by five points, while Plymouth are 17th with 17 points from 16 matches.
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