Scotland handed major boost ahead of vital Poland clash

POLAND have suffered an injury crisis ahead of Scotland’s do-or-die crunch in Warsaw with four players set to miss the Nations League finale.

Steve Clarke‘s side must win in Poland to avoid automatic relegation. Depending on the results, they could even finish second and qualify for the quarter-finals.

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And their task has been made easier after the Poles suffered a nightmare night in Porto as they crashed to a 5-1 pummelling from the Portuguese.

Poland are already missing legendary striker Robert Lewandowski through injury and manager Michał Probierz revealed four more players could be ruled out.

Southampton defender Jan Bednarek and Southampton stopper Bartosz Bereszynski are definitely out after coming off injured while Fenerbahce midfielder Sebastian Szymanski and Taras Romanczuk of Jagiellonia Białystok are both major doubts.

And their disastrous night was summed up when they tried to make a sub and put on Charlotte FC striker Karol Swiderski…only to discover he hadn’t been named on their own official teamsheet and he wasn’t allowed to enter the pitch.

Probierz said: “In 20 years of coaching I have never ever been in a match where as many things that could go wrong did go wrong.

“We now have a lot of injuries and we need to think about replacements.

“As for the incident with Karol Swiderski, I can only apologise to him. It was a human error, mistakes happen.

“We showed until half-time that we can really play very well, but nobody gives points for that.

“But our injuries changed the game.

“It’s hard to win under such circumstances.

“But it’s a lesson in humility for the players and me. You have to be able to accept these moments in football.

“We now need to prepare properly for Scotland. I hope our fans will come out and support us in this match because we need them.

“If you get knocked down, you have to be able to get up.”

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