Allan McGregor edges ahead as Scotland's first choice '˜keeper

Scotland manager Alex McLeish has given a strong indication that Allan McGregor is at the top of his goalkeeping pecking order, provided he maintains the form he has shown in recent outings.

Allan McGregor: Ready to face Albania. Picture: SNS

While neither McGregor nor his Celtic counterpart Craig Gordon joined the national team on the summer tour of Mexico and Peru, the Rangers No.1, who already has 38 caps and 14 clean sheets to his name, did impress his national boss in the March double header with Costa Rica and Hungary, which Gordon missed through injury.

That appears to have given him the edge over his colleague and although Gordon, who has served up 22 clean sheets while accumulating his 52 caps, was chosen to face Belgium in Friday’s final warm-up for the Nations League, it is McGregor who will be reinstalled when the competitive action kicks off against Albania at Hampden tomorrow night.

“Allan has been there in the earlier games. Against Hungary – he did really well in that game,” said McLeish.

“So I guess sometimes if someone has a really good game ahead of the other one who is maybe not there it kind of could look as if it is going their way.”

But with a keeper of Gordon’s calibre waiting in the wings, McLeish will continue to assess the situation and may make a switch should McGregor’s standards slip.

“It is hard for me to separate these guys. Going forward I am going to need wee Kofi Annan or [Scotland goalkeeping coach] Stevie ‘Kofi Annan’ Woods!”