Although Mikel Arteta was not able to say when he thought Kieran Tierney would return to fitness, Scotland’s manager Steve Clarke expects the full-back to be fit for the international break.

Kieran Tierney has been out of the side since after the game against Crystal Palace, picking up a bruised ankle in training.

After this weekend’s matches, we are once again off on an international break, but if we thought Tierney would get a chance to recover properly, we were wrong.

“I think Kieran will be on the plane and, if he’s on the plane, he’ll be fit,” Scotland manager, Steve Clarke said on Wednesday.

“That’s my opinion but look, you have to respect the club and the club are telling us he’s working his way back to fitness.

“They’re hopeful he could be involved this weekend [against Watford] but if he [only] gets a few days training in, then fine. We don’t play until a week on Friday, so he’s got time on his side. I expect that Kieran will be fit.”

In Tierney’s absence, Nuno Tavares has shown himself to be far more than just an understudy to the Scot and it will be interesting to see if Tierney does return this weekend, whether that is on the bench or the starting lineup.