Scotland fear for Arsenal's Kieran Tierney as former Celtic defender could miss World Cup play-off

Kieran Tierney could miss the remainder of the season for club and country after missing Arsenal’s match with Crystal Palace on Monday night.

The former Celtic trainee sat out the Gunners’ game at Selhurst Park with a knee injury.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will discover the extent and severity of the injury on Tuesday and suggested Tierney reported back in London with the issue following his starring role on Scotland duty last week. He scored his first international goal, a header in the 1-1 draw with Poland at Hampden, his 30th appearance for Scotland.

He now faces an anxious wait to find out if he will be fit for the Premiership finale with the north London side pressing for a Champions League place and top four finish in the English Premier League.

Kieran Tierney may miss the rest of the season if his injury is as severe as feared. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

After leaving the 24-year-old out Arteta admitted: "There is some damage there. We will hopefully know more on Tuesday but it is not looking good."

Any lay-off for Tierney could also prove a blow for Steve Clarke. Tierney played the full 90 minutes in both Scotland’s friendly draws against Poland and Austria but injury and surgery could force him to miss the key World Cup play-off tie with Ukraine, and potentially Wales, pencilled in for June due to the ongoing Russian invasion of the country with a place at the Qatar World Cup and potential group stage with England at stake.

Scotland also have Nations League fixtures to fulfil in June with home and away fixtures against Armenia either side of matches against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland.

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