Town keeper Cieran Slicker was handed his full Scotland debut off the bench in the opening minutes and had a tough time as his team, which also featured George Hirst, was beaten 3-1 by Iceland in a friendly at Hampden Park, while Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor added to their Republic of Ireland caps in a 1-1 friendly in Dublin.
Hirst started for Scotland the first time and won his third cap as the number nine, while Slicker came off the bench in the seventh minute after former Norwich keeper Angus Gunn suffered a knock.
The 22-year-old, who previously captained the Scotland U21s, made a nervy start from which he never recovered, his under-hit pass leading to an Iceland goal within a minute of him coming on, Andri Gudjohnsen curling a shot into the top corner.
Hirst sent a header over which he probably should have scored on 21, then three minutes later had a shot tipped over.
Slicker conceded again just before the break when a corner was defended chaotically and was diverted into the net by defender Lewis Ferguson, the Town keeper having held by an Icelandic attacker as the ball came over.
https://x.com/BBCSportScot/status/1931064355694817403
The former Manchester City man should also have done better in the second half when Victor Palsson’s header went through his hands, making it 3-1.
On 62, Hirst had what would have been his first international goal ruled out for offside following a VAR review before being subbed in the 68th minute.
The frontman was named his side’s man of the match by the BBC Scotland commentary team after what was overall a very poor performance from the Scots. Steve Clarke’s side play another friendly against Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Monday.
Slicker, whose debut had echoes of ex-Blues keeper Richard Wright’s first appearance for England in 2000, joins the likes of Reggie Lambe (Bermuda), Bruce Twamley and Jaime Peters (both Canada), Monty Patterson (New Zealand), Elkan Baggott (Indonesia) and current U21s striker Ash Boatswain (Montserrat) in winning international honours before making a league debut.
Taylor was handed his first Republic of Ireland start, his fourth appearance, and landed awkwardly on his left knee in the first half but carried on until being subbed on 58. O’Shea, making his 34th appearance, played the full 90 minutes. Ireland travel to take on Luxembourg in another friendly on Tuesday.
Blues forward Nathan Broadhead was an unused sub as Wales beat Liechtenstein 3-0 in their opening World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.