Two days for Nathan Patterson to prove his fitness – Steven Naismith

Nathan Patterson will have two days to prove his fitness to Steve Clarke for Scotland’s 2022 World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, according to coach Steven Naismith.

The 20-year-old right-back has struggled for game time at Everton since moving from Rangers in January and had ankle surgery at the beginning of April.

Naismith is confident Patterson, who has not played since Scotland drew 2-2 with Austria at the end of March, will not let down his country if he is declared fit for the crunch game at Hampden Park on Wednesday night, the winners of which will take on Wales in the play-off final in Cardiff.

After a training session at Scotland’s base in Oriam, Edinburgh, Naismith said: “Nathan was on the pitch.

“He is obviously the one who came in with being injured but he has the next two days on the pitch to show that he is ready and fit.

“I think he is probably one of the ones in the squad that I have compared, in terms of his natural fitness, to Alan Hutton, who went long periods and never played (for his club) but performed well for Scotland.

“Nathan has shown that when he wasn’t playing for Rangers, he played for Scotland, he played very well.

“So from that side everyone is comfortable that he could be ready and be in contention. But there is still two days for the manager to pick the team.”

Naismith does not believe skipper Andy Robertson, whose Liverpool side lost the Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris on Saturday night, will need picking up when he joins up with Clarke’s squad on Sunday night or Monday.

He said: “When he meets up, naturally the players and everybody will have that chat about the experience, the build-up, the way the game went.

“From now until the game there is a lot of