Billy Gilmour hands Scotland Euro 2024 boost but injury return is day to forget for Brighton midfielder

Gilmour returns from four-week lay-off as Brighton go down at Bournemouth

Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour made his Brighton comeback in the 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Billy Gilmour made his Brighton comeback to hand Scotland a major boost ahead of Euro 2024 but it turned into a day to forget for the midfielder as the Seagulls went down to a 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

It was his Scotland teammate Ryan Christie who ended up on the winning side as goals from Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert fired the Cherries into the top half of the Premier League as they surpassed their record points haul of 46 achieved under Eddie Howe in 2016-17.

But the sight of Gilmour completing the full 90 minutes after a four-week lay-off with a knee injury picked up in Scotland’s 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland at Hampden last month will have pleased national team boss Steve Clarke, who has a fresh worry over Scott McTominay after the Manchester United midfielder suffered a knee injury in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.

There are also concerns over the fitness of Kieran Tierney, Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Grant Hanley, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Jack and Jacob Brown while Lewis Ferguson has been ruled out of the tournament in Germany.

It took Bournemouth just 13 minutes to take the lead when Lewis Cook swung in corner to the near post, where Umal challenged Brighton teenager Mark O’Mahony. The ball looped up into the six-yard box and Senesi was left with a simple header into the net.

The home side doubled their lead in the 52nd minute when Dango Ouattara’s cross was met by a towering header from Unal, sending the ball back across goal and beyond the dive of Bart Verbruggen.

Christie came off the bench midway through the second half and provided the assist for the third, scored by Justin Kluivert with a fine left-footed finish as Bournemouth, who were languishing in 19th in October, secured another impressive win and a place in the top 10.