Anthony Ralston’s Contrasting Night for Scotland

Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston had a contrasting performance for Scotland last night as they painstakingly lost by three goals to two against Poland.

The pressure continues to mount on national team boss Steve Clarke, who saw two Celts drop out of his squad at the beginning of the week.

Both Greg Taylor and James Forrest were forced to withdraw from international duty due to injuries.

Their absences left Ralston as the sole Celtic representative in the team. He got the nod against the Poles and had an intriguing evening.

Throughout the first half, the 25-year-old acquitted himself well, maintaining a 100% success rate in his tackles, long passes, short passes, and dribbles in the opening 43 minutes.

At the end of the maiden period of action, though, he gave away a clumsy penalty, unfortunately connecting feet with his opponent in the box. The referee had no choice but to give Poland a penalty, from which Robert Lewandoski made no mistake to give his country a 2-0 lead.

Following this setback, much like at the European Championships, Ralston kept his head held high and kicked on.

He and his teaMMAtes emerged a rejuvenated side in the second half, the full-back linking up well with former Celtic academy kid Ben Doak on the right-hand side. That was no more coherent than in the Scots’ equaliser.

The pair combined well out wide, with Ralston sending a sublime cut-back cross into the box for Scott McTominay to score from.

The hosts were level and pushed for a winner, but a late error from Grant Hanley allowed Poland to win the Game from the spot, which they did.

It was heartbreaking for Ralston and his Scotland teaMMAtes, who now face a daunting trip to face Portugal and 900-goal Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday.