Burley names 26 to face Croatia

March 17th, 2008 | by: Ian Rose | View Comments

Well, obviously not all of them will get the chance, but here is the first match roster from George Burley for the March 26th friendly against Croatia. Notes after the list.

Goalkeepers
Craig Gordon, David Marshall, Allan McGregor

Defenders
Graham Alexander, Russell Anderson, Christophe Berra, Gary Caldwell, Christian Dailly, Alan Hutton, James McEveley, Stephen McManus, Gary Naysmith

Midfielders
Scott Brown, Barry Ferguson, Darren Fletcher, Paul Hartley, Lee McCulloch, Stephen Pearson, Barry Robson, Gary Teale

Strikers
Kris Boyd, Steven Fletcher, James McFadden, Shaun Maloney, Kenny Miller, Garry O’Connor

A few points of interest stick out from this list. First, the newcomers. Hearts captain Christophe Berra and Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher both get their chance at a first Scotland cap on March 26th. Berra will likely replace Davie Weir, a mainstay of the Scotland defense with 61 appearances. Some fans have expressed concerns about a potential central defense consisting of Berra and Stephen McManus, since both are primarily left-footed, but as with any defensive partnership, it will be hard to tell how well the two will work together until they take the pitch. There really aren’t any surprises here. The reports of Burley’s interest in Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley must have been a bit exaggerated, since his name is nowhere to be found. Berra and Fletcher’s inclusions seem to indicate that Coach Burley will favor a bit of youth, especially when it’s on form, and that will come in handy, especially in the case of Berra, since the Scotland defense, fine as it is, has been getting quite long in the tooth. One young Scot not on the list is Rangers’ Steven Naismith, who will have to stick to captaining the U-21s for at least one more match. They’ll need him, as they face Finland the same day. All in all, I would prefer to have one more midfielder and one less striker (making it 9 and 5 rather than 8 and 6) but no one specific sticks out who I would add to the midfield. A good roster, I think, and it’s nice to know who will be available in nine days when Croatia comes a-calling. I’ll have a closer look at our boys, position by position, later this week. Hampden hasn’t seen a national team match since November 17th, and it will be rocking. Can’t wait for the match.