SCOTLAND under-21 boss Billy Stark insisted today that his side will cope if they have to travel to Denmark for their vital European Championship qualifier without two-goal hero Steven Fletcher.
The Easter Road hitman, who was handed the captain's
armband last night, scored either side of the break and put in a man-of-the-match performance in the 3-1 win over Slovenia in Falkirk.
His first strike came after just 58 seconds and the watching Scotland manager George Burley hadn't even made it into his seat among the 4501 crowd time to see the home side's opener.
However, Burley would have been impressed by Fletcher's overall contribution and may now withdraw him from the under-21s to call him into his squad for next week's World Cup qualifier against Iceland.
That would mean Fletcher missing out on the 21s' final game of their European Championships campaign away to Denmark, a game which could decide if they are to reach the play-offs.
Stark admits that it would be a huge blow to lose the talismanic hitman, however, he insisted that there are players available to him who could fill the void that would be left if Fletcher receives the call.
Stark said: "Obviously, Steven made a massive contribution to the side last night and we were pretty confident that he would do that. We haven't heard anything about Steven in terms of the full squad, I know that there has been speculation. If that happens then the full squad is way above everything else in terms of importance. If Fletch gets back into the full squad then we would all be delighted with that, there's no massive disappointment.
"If George decides to take him for the Iceland game then that's great for the player and we have got others who can step into the side.
"I think that it is important for the other players that we don't make too big a thing out of it. Obviously, Fletch did well for us last night, but we didn't have him in the previous games and the boys did the job.
"We would prefer to have him but we understand exactly where we are with it and we will just have to wait and see what happens."
The Hibs striker has yet to hit the back of the net for his club this season but it took him just 58 seconds to get the Scots off to the best possible start, Kevin McDonald and Ross McCormack teaming up to release him and the 21-year-old drilled the ball into the net from the left-hand side of the box.
Chances for the Slovenians were few and far between and the home side stamped their authority on the game when they bagged a second just before the break. Charlie Mulgrew's free-kick was at just the right height for Garry Kenneth, who saw his initial header come back off the woodwork but then turned the rebound home with his right boot from just a couple of yards out.
The Slovenians gave themselves some hope when they pulled a goal back with 54 minutes gone after a mistake by Kenneth allowed Mitjia Viler to thread the ball through for Tim Matavz, who drove beyond Jamie MacDonald with his right foot.
However, it wasn't long before Scotland restored their two-goal advantage when another Mulgrew free-kick was swung deep to the back post for Fletcher, who sent his header down across the body of Matjaz Rozman and into the net.
The Scots could have added a fourth goal when they were awarded a soft, late penalty after sub Calum Elliot went down under a challenge in the box, but Mulgrew sent his weak effort from 12 yards straight into the arms of the Slovenian goalkeeper.
Fletcher himself was delighted with the result and admitted that he's keeping his fingers crossed that the call will come from the senior squad.
The Easter Road hitman said: "I'll just need to wait and see. I'm glad I got the early goal, it's been kind of hanging over me so it took the pressure off a bit. And it was good to get two goals. I'm glad George Burley was at the game but I was told that he missed my first one!
"I don't know what will happen. He told us that he would be at last night's game so I have done my part and I will just have to wait and see how it works out now.
"Some of my mates are in the 21s team so it would be nice to stay with them and see it through but if the call comes through for the first team then you don't turn that down."
Scotland: MacDonald, Cuthbert, Wallace, Arfield, Kenneth, Considine, Lennon (Hamill 78), McDonald (Robertson 89), Fletcher (Elliot 89), Mulgrew, McCormack.
Unused subs: McLean, Stevenson, Reynolds, Campbell.
Slovenia: Koprivec (Rozman 31), Salkic, Apatic, Elsner, Rajcevic, Korun, Mihelic, Viler, Matavz, Pecnik, Velikonja.
Unused subs: Omladic, Tolimir, Mijatovic, Bezjak.
The full article contains 856 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
