Matt Ritchie has withdrawn from the Scotland squad that face Hungary tonight. Our no.11 has returned to the club to be assessed, but there has been no confirmation that he is injured.
The 28 year old played almost the whole match as the Scots lost 1-0 to Costa Rica on Friday night. We will all be hoping he is fit to face Huddersfield on Saturday.
On Twitter, fans were keeping their fingers crossed that his early return from international duty was just a precaution, and that he`ll be ready to start against the Terriers.
Because he wanted to play with Newcastle?
? Vayam Lahoti (@VayamLahoti) 26 March 2018
Good hope he is just doing it for saturday and our game
? Paul Wilson (@PaulWiywill) 26 March 2018
Hoping the reason the he has pulled out is purely precautionary
? Toonfan (@ataylor1892) 27 March 2018
At a vital part of the season for many teams why on earth are players being diverted to play the likes of Costa Rica etc?
? Lucy (@dunelmcuths) 26 March 2018
Blessing in disguise
? Dylan Turnbull (@DylanTurnbull96) 26 March 2018
Probably wants to be stick with club commitments
? Thomas (@Tom_Proudfoot) 26 March 2018
Precaution, pointless game to risk
? RitchiesMagic (@RitchiesMagic) 26 March 2018
Hopefully the injury does not keep him out of sat game #nufc
? toon travel 2 (@RuzMark) 26 March 2018
Hopefully nothing serious?
? Saikat Sanyal (@CorkingToon) 26 March 2018
I`m guessing it`s an “injury”
? shaunmcdowell (@shaunstockton1) 26 March 2018
Verdict:
It would be a setback for Rafa if Matt isn`t fit to play at the weekend. He has contributed two goals in our last two home victories, and would almost certainly have been in line to start our next match at St James` Park on Saturday.
The Scottish international has hit a purple patch in recent weeks, finding his shooting boots after failing to score in the first half of the season. Hopefully, he is only suffering from a knock, rather than anything more serious.