Souttar was thoroughly impressed with Anthony Ralston and Grant Hanley who came out of cold storage in Athens
Anthony Ralston can barely get off the bench for Celtic.
While big Grant Hanley has amassed a grand total of FOUR minutes for League One outfit Birmingham City in their last four games.
That’s why their defensive partner, John Souttar, was full of praise for the two Scotland stalwarts in Athens.
Steve Clarke’s side pulled off a brilliant 1-0 victory over Greece in the first-leg of their Nations League play-off tie to give them a crucial advantage for the return at Hampden on Sunday.
Scott McTominay’s first-half penalty was enough to secure a vital win and the Scots might have led by more at the break. But after the interval, Greece piled on the pressure with the backing of a vociferous home support.
It required a steely resilience from Clarke’s boys to get the job done and keep a clean sheet.
Souttar was superb at centre-back as he continued his Ibrox form for his country. But at either side of him, Ralston and Hanley also stood firm and produced brilliant, gritty displays.
It would have been easy for Clarke to play Max Johnston at right-back and Scott McKenna beside Souttar – given the lack of minutes Ralston and Hanley have had this term. But the manager’s faith was rewarded and Souttar hailed his two pals in the back four – along with skipper Andy Robertson, of course – for how they performed under pressure.
Souttar said: “They were both outstanding tonight. It’s probably the toughest thing in football to come into a game like that when you haven’t been playing.
So it’s a huge credit to those boys and how they look after themselves that they were able to perform at that level. It’s a really impressive result for us.
We played a lot better in the first half but they’re a good side and that’s when we dug in and showed the other side of our game. We were under a lot of pressure, faced a lot of balls thrown into the box – but we dealt with it really well.
“There were times when we could have given ourselves a little bit more of a breather by keeping the ball better. But against a team with the home crowd behind them it’s hard to make that happen. So you just sit in and try to hold out, which we did so we’re happy.”
Souttar was quick to point out that the job is only half done for Clarke’s side who have to finish the Greeks off in Glasgow to stay in the Nations League top tier. But he also insists there’s now a confidence and belief soaring through this squad after going four games unbeaten.
Scotland are only the second team after England to beat the hosts in Athens over the last four years. And Souttar says it’s a sign of the quality Clarke has at his disposal now that someone like Kieran Tierney had to settle for a place on the bench.
He said: “This is a nice way to win, but it’ll be a completely different game back at Hampden. We’ll look back at this one and I think we’ll see that the second half performance could have been better.
“They pinned us back but sometimes you have to defend the way we did here and it feels good to come away with a clean sheet. There’s a confidence among the boys, not arrogance.
We know we have to do the basics right to get results and we did those basics really well here. When we do that, when we stick to our principles, we always have a chance.
“It’s difficult to get in the team, so you know that everyone has to perform from the first minute. Because you can see now what we have waiting to come off the bench.
“The biggest thing now is that we know it’s only half-time. We have to go out at Hampden and do a really good job in front of our own fans and it’s a game we’re really looking forward to.”
Scotland had a few scares in Athens, like when winger Christos Tzolis hit the post in the second half. But overall, they were rock solid and Craig Gordon – who dealt superbly with cross balls into his box – didn’t have a notable save to make.
There was a late sweat for Clarke when Hanley fouled Taxiarchis Fountas and German ref Tobia Stieler awarded a penalty. After a VAR check, a free-kick was given outside the box – and Souttar was relieved to see the decision reversed.
He said: “I thought it was tight, but some of the other boys were always confident that it was outside the box. Still, whenever it goes to VAR you’re fearing the worst, your heart’s in your mouth – thankfully we got the decision.
It was such a good atmosphere, with the crowd so close to the pitch. It was really enjoyable to play in.
“They brought on their young sub (Konstantinos Karetsas) at half-time and he looked sharp – but I thought we handled him well. They had to go for it and they brought on another couple of strikers. But they didn’t really have that many chances.
“I thought we dealt with the whole situation well.
When you get good results, when you get good results the way we’ve started to do, you really feel a team coming together. That’s the case with us now.”
Souttar is enjoying a rich vein of form for club and country right now but is refusing to get carried away. He said: “I’m enjoying my football just now. Results are good but I’m trying not to dwell on them, because the next game’s only ever two or three days away – and I know what football can be like.
