Kieran Tierney: Steve Clarke weighs in on Scotland and ex-Celtic defender's situation at Arsenal and advises 'knuckling down'

A Scottish international full back edged out of contention at a London club. Sounds familiar? Steve Clarke knows just what Kieran Tierney is going through.

Steve Clarke has urged Kieran Tierney to knuckle down at Arsenal for the rest of the season.

Tierney’s importance to Scotland has well established over the course of several years. However, it’s been a different story at Arsenal this season, where he has been deployed as a substitute if he even plays at all.

Tierney’s playing time has been severely limited by the form of fellow left back Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Scot has been linked with a move to Newcastle United.

The 25-year-old was rooted to the bench on Thursday night as Mikel Arteta’s side exited the Europa League at the hands of Sporting Lisbon after a penalty shootout. This will have disappointed Clarke as much as Tierney, with the Scotland manager expressing the hope earlier this week at Hampden that the defender might start that particular game after missing the first leg due to illness. Clarke has advised Tierney to “knuckle down” and not do what he did when he was a player at Chelsea, which was sulk for six months.

Tierney has struggled for regular game-time at Arsenal this season.

Fitness permitting, Tierney is guaranteed to start Scotland’s opening two Euro 2024 qualifiers against Cyprus and Spain. Clarke has no worries about his ability to step straight back. He revealed he has spoken to the player recently in a bid to keep his spirits up.

“It’s one of the things you have got to deal with when you are playing at a top-level club,” said Clarke. “I had it myself when I was a player. Obviously in the early days at Chelsea it was a little bit easier but once you had the foreign influence starting to come in and better players start to turn up, you find yourself at a level where you are maybe not going to be selected to play every game. You have to deal with that. He (Tierney) understands why he is not getting so many minutes in the Premier League. He has just got to knuckle down and get on with it. That’s what he is doing.”

Clarke’s situation was slightly different when he found himself exiled by Bobby Campbell at Chelsea. “I don’t think anybody else wanted me!” he smiled. Clarke recalled there was a period where he let himself down. “I didn’t train as hard as I could or work as hard as I could to be in the team.” He realised he wasn’t getting anywhere and started doing extra drills with coach Don Howe. His fortunes improved again when Ian Porterfield succeeded Campbell in 1991. “You have got a choice," he said. "Run away and try somewhere else or stick it out. I didn’t have too many suitors at the time. I was settled in the area and settled at the club.”

Clarke profited after a positional "tweak" saw him move inside to centre half. By the time he called time on his 11-year Chelsea career he had won the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Cup-Winners’ Cup. “Kieran is probably in a slightly different position,” said Clarke. “He is certainly good enough to play to the highest level in the EPL. I think he should knuckle down, see this season out like the good professional he is and see what the summer brings.”