Kieran Tierney in surprise Real Sociedad request as Celtic hero makes Champions League call amid training miss

Kieran Tierney is being closely managed by Real Sociedad as they look to monitor his workload, according to a report.

The Scotland international joined the La Liga side in the final throws of the summer transfer window on a season-long loan from Arsenal. He's been thrown straight into the deep end at the Basque club, with a strong performance away at Real Madrid before an hour of action in a 1-1 draw in the Champions League with Inter Milan.

But it is coming at a physical cost though to the Arsenal loanee. Mundo Deportivo claim the Celtic hero "showed signs of some discomfort on Wednesday" and "asked for a change" against Inter after a rapid start to life in Spain. He has also missed training ahead of a return to La Liga action against Getafe at the weekend, alongside Martin Zubimendi and Arsen Zakharyan. It is suggested he should be fine for the clash despite the claimed request.

Boss Imanol Alguacil has simply put it down to managing his minutes as a target of taking another step towards reaching the Spanish top four and European top table qualification is sought. He said: "Tierney and Zubimendi have stayed inside, due to load management. Zakharyan... it seems like he has the flu, I hope that tomorrow he will be able to train.

"If we want to compete in the Champions League again next year, it is games like these that we have to win. Those in the league, which are what will allow us to play in the Champions League again next year.

"It is very clear to me. At the same time, finishing the Champions League match I was already talking to the players about the Getafe match, because it is much more important. The players' chip has changed as soon as they finished the Inter match."