Kieran Tierney's international woes could hold back his Celtic progress

By Jay Williams

Kieran Tierney’s problems at international level could affect his development at Celtic.

The young left-back is operating out of position at the moment and that is not helping his progress as a left-back.

For Celtic, the youngster is thriving and has even captained his boyhood club on three occasions.

But for Scotland, he is being held back and this needs to change soon.

Scotland manager Alex McLeish has been deploying a 3-4-3 formation to accommodate Andrew Robertson and Tierney.

Both players are extremely talented but they both play at left-back. To fit both into the same starting line-up, Robertson plays as a left-wing back with Tierney at centre-half.

But the 21-year-old struggled against Israel in a central position and scored an own goal.

(JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Tierney likes getting up and down the left flank and joining in attacks, rather than constant defending.

For Celtic, Tierney is usually on the front foot and is more suited to an attacking left-back role.

McLeish needs to solve this left-back conundrum by committing to either Robertson or Tierney as a left-back in a flat back four.

Neither player is excelling in their newfound roles and he needs to keep it simple.

The alternative option would be to play Tierney as an out-and-out winger ahead of Robertson, helping the attacking side of his game when he returns to Celtic.

But as long as he plays in central defence, the youngster will not progress as a left-back.