MX23RW : Tuesday, December 24 15:39:40| >> :600:877872:877872:
[monks data]
Albania national football team
Nations League | League Phase
Nov 17, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
 
Scotland national football team

0-4


Mavraj (22')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Fraser (14'), Fletcher (45' pen.), Forrest (55', 67')

Johnny Russell not fazed by long-haul journeys for Scotland duty

Johnny Russell not fazed by long-haul journeys for Scotland duty
© Reuters
The Sporting Kansas City forward made a five-hour flight to link up with Alex McLeish's squad.

Johnny Russell stressed his commitment to Scotland after boss Alex McLeish was hit by another withdrawal ahead of the Nations League double-header against Albania and Israel.

Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack, called up on Sunday after another raft of withdrawals including that of Fulham playmaker Kevin McDonald, has left the camp with an unspecified injury.

McLeish was already shorn of several key players before Blackburn defender Charlie Mulgrew, Kilmarnock's Stephen O'Donnell and Celtic keeper Craig Gordon withdrew injured over the weekend.

Jack, along with Hamburg defender David Bates, Manchester United playmaker Scott McTominay and Hoops stopper Scott Bain, were drafted in on Sunday.

However, Sporting Kansas City forward Russell, who made another long journey from the United States to join up with his Scotland team mates, is keen to add to his eight caps.

The 28-year-old former Dundee United and Derby player said: "I feel good. I am used to it now.

"The facilities and the sports science... it is not a problem.

"I was out of the squad for so long, I said I would do anything to be back in.

"People have brought up the distance before but I have said there isn't a distance that I wouldn't travel to come back and play for my country.

"It is five hours for me. It can be difficult to travel, especially when you have been doing it all season but I spent so long out of the squad I would never do anything to jeopardise it again."

Jack played in the 7-1 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Motherwell at Ibrox on Sunday but declared an unspecified injury the following morning.

McLeish, speaking at Scotland's hotel on the outskirts of Edinburgh, said: "Ryan is out. He played the whole game for Rangers and unfortunately he picked up an injury.

"It is one of these things that happens which is why we wait late on the Sunday because of the Sunday games.

"That is unfortunate for Ryan, getting (back) into the Rangers team, obviously he has something to offer the squad in so many different positions."

Russell arrived back in Scotland in confident mode after Kansas City's 5-3 aggregate win over Real Salt Lake sent them through to the Western Conference Championship of the MLS Cup play-offs, where they will face the Portland Timbers.

He said: "Obviously winning at your club definitely helps when you come away and hopefully I can continue that.

"We have had a great year. The aim was to get into the play-offs as high as we could and we have done that and we have another two tough games when I get back from here but I will think about them after these two.

"We know it is two massive games (Albania and Israel), must-win games, all the boys know that so it is time to get the head down and get to work.

"It is going to be a difficult game, they beat Israel and they caused us a couple of problems.

"But we need to win the game."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Ronnie Esplin, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '1aad0ab0-bf3c-4d73-b7fc-24bf44732acd');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Johnny Russell not fazed by long-haul journeys for Scotland duty'});

ID:341487: cacheID:341487:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5528:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Scotland manager Alex McLeish pictured on October 11, 2018
Read Next:
McLeish keen to show resilience and lead Scotland to Nations League play-offs
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal642014
Q Croatia Croatia62228
3 Scotland flag Scotland62137
4 Poland Poland61144

League A2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France641113
Q Italy Italy641113
3 Belgium Belgium61144
4 Israel Israel61144

League A3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany642014
Q Netherlands Netherlands62319
3 Hungary Hungary61326
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina60242

League A4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain651016
Q Denmark Denmark62228
3 Serbia Serbia61326
4 Switzerland Switzerland60242

League B1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic632111
2 Ukraine Ukraine62228
3 Georgia Georgia62137
4 Albania national flag Albania62137

League B2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England650115
2 Greece Greece650115
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland62046
4 Finland Finland60060

League B3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Norway Norway641113
2 Austria Austria632111
3 Slovenia Slovenia62228
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan60151

League B4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Wales flag Wales633012
2 Turkey Turkey632111
3 Iceland Iceland62137
4 Montenegro Montenegro61053

League C1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Sweden Sweden651016
2 Slovakia Slovakia641113
3 Estonia Estonia61144
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan60151

League C2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania550015
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo540112
3 Cyprus Cyprus62046
4 Lithuania Lithuania60060

League C3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland632111
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria62319
3 Belarus Belarus61417
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg60333

League C4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Macedonia N. Macedonia651016
2 Armenia Armenia62137
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands61326
4 Latvia Latvia61144

League D1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q San Marino flag San Marino42117
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar41306
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein40222

League D2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Republic of Moldova Moldova43019
2 Malta flag Malta42117
3 Andorra flag Andorra40131


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!