‘I’m surprised’ - Scotland’s Scott McTominay and the Manchester United mystery for national coach

There was only one greeting required from John Carver when he clocked Scott McTominay as the Scotland squad gathered this week.

Scotland's Scott McTominay celebrates netting against Georgia in June, scoring form he has now taken into his club environment after a remarkable late double for Manchester United at the weekend to dig them out of a hole against Brentford. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The encounter coming a mere two days after the Manchester United man had permed two goals from an 87th minute substitute appearance to upend the struggling Old Trafford side hosting Brentford from a 1-0 loss into an astonishing 2-1 win. “I just called over to him: ‘here’s the goalscoring McTominay’,” said the Scotland assistant. “He’s had a tough time lately and he deserves the credit.” Carver believes the midfielder deserves more than credit, though. Plundering six goals from his outings for the nation in this year’s Euro 2024 group campaign that has placed them on the cusp of qualification, the 26-year-old is feeling the love from his country. Not least in a week where a berth in the Germany finals could be secured by avoiding defeat on Thursday night against none other than a Spain he put to the sword with a double in March’s for-the-ages Hampden success.

It has been a contrasting time at club level, where manager Erik ten Hag has rationed the player’s game time to meagre quantities after appearing desperate to offload him to West Ham in the summer. McTominay, refusing that move, has started only two of United’s 11 games and amassed a grand total of 206 minutes of on-field action. “I’ll be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t been in the Manchester United team, but I don’t manage that team,” said the 58-year-old. “I’m looking from the outside. But it shows you the type of character Scott is. He could have easily thrown his toys out the pram but he has knuckled down and worked extremely hard and has waited for his opportunity. He came into the game at the weekend and you could see the delight on his face when he scored those goals. I was delighted for him.

“For sure [I think he will get more game-time now]. You saw the reaction of the crowd when he scored and the reaction on his face. He loves Man Utd and you need a certain personality to play at Man Utd. He’s got that in abundance. I see it now where he has had a tough time but got them out of jail, losing 1-0 in the dying embers of the game and he’s produced the goods. I can’t tell Ten Hag how to do his job but there will be a lot of support to get him in the team from Man Utd fans.

“When he comes here, he is always a top class professional. He has shown a bit of patience. He could have gone in the summer. He didn’t go - he wanted to stay at Man Utd and that shows you his character. He has shown he’s good enough to get in the team and this is an opportunity for him. But that’s Man Utd. He’s with us now and is coming into the Scotland camp with a huge amount of confidence, like many other players because we’ve had quite a few goalscorers in the last few weeks.”

In the 6ft 3in all-action type, Carver believes Scotland have quite a few players in one. “Scott is an excellent player and the fact he can play in a number of different positions is brilliant for us,” said Steve Clarke’s no.2. “When I first came in, he was on the right side of the back three because we needed him to play in that position. He can also play the holding midfield role, but as you saw in Cyprus, he can also play as an attacking midfielder coming in from the right. He is a multi-functional player and wherever he plays, we know he is going to give everything for the cause.”