What Celtic’s Anthony Ralston Said After Helping Scotland Beat Croatia Last Night

Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston proved dependable again for his country yesterday evening, completing the full 90 as Scotland beat a star-studded Croatia side 1-0 at Hampden.

Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn scored the Game’s only goal, rattling home from inside the box late on to secure the points for Steve Clarke’s side.

Despite continual criticism, Ralston has always been a reliable performer for Scotland and has now started the last nine Games for his country.

Steve Clarke clearly trusts the 26-year-old, and yesterday evening, he put in another battling display in dark blue.

Ralston linked up adeptly with former Celtic youngster Ben Doak on the right-hand side – the teenager stole the show with a man-of-the-match display in which he gave Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol nightmares.

Watching on from the Hampden Park north stand in the second half, Ralston helped young Doak through the Game and constantly instructed him to get high and wide when Scotland attacked.

Post-match, Ralston spoke to the media, reflecting on the win: “Croatia are a top team, they’ve got top players,” he said (Sky Sports).

“We were aware of that coming into the Game.

“But we knew, especially from the last camp, that performances were there, and it was just the end result. None of us were content with that, so to come away with a result, especially against a team like Croatia, we’re really happy with.”

It is a testament to Ralston’s professionalism that, despite playing just 74 minutes for Celtic since the last international break, he could come into the Scotland team against Croatia and perform in the manner he did.

He will likely keep his place in the lineup as the Scots head to Poland on Monday evening to round off what has been a turbulent Nations League A campaign.