Celtic’s four stars involved at EURO 2024 will take some time to relax after Scotland were eliminated from EURO 2024 last night.
Anthony Ralston and Callum McGregor were heavily involved across all three of their Group A fixtures; meanwhile, James Forrest and Greg Taylor were left on the bench as unused substitutes.
In the case of Ralston, he performed admirably against Hungary and barely put a foot wrong despite the end result, proving some of his doubters wrong following the 1-1 draw with Switzerland last week.
Nevertheless, Scotland couldn’t take their chance to secure their passage to the knockout stages in Germany, something he has reacted to in an honest fashion while undertaking post-match media duties.
Anthony Ralston on Scotland’s EURO 2024 exit
Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland, Ralston fronted up and admitted he and his international teammates are feeling hurt after yesterday’s events; nevertheless, he has backed Scotland to pick themselves up and go again once the dust settles.
He stated: “It’s difficult to put into words, we’re obviously absolutely gutted. I’m proud of this group of players, management and staff. We’ve put our absolute all into this tournament; it’s obviously disappointing, we’re all absolutely gutted.
“It’s going to be something we can look back on and be proud of. We didn’t quite get there and that’s obviously tough to take, but we’ll just pick ourselves back up.
“We’re all gutted; I would just like to say to every supporter who made the trip out across all three games, to everybody that watched back at home that supported us all the way, family, friends that supported us, we’re so thankful, we’re gutted for you as well, but we are so thankful, and it really did help us, and we just wish we could’ve done it for you, but it is what it is.”
Ralston isn’t somebody to back down when the going gets tough. Granted, this is a tough moment for everyone with a connection to the national team; nevertheless, you don’t get through the other side without determined characters ready to turn the tide.
He can take pride in being involved on the elite stage despite being played in an unfamiliar wing-back role, which, by design, is Steve Clarke’s default tactic in charge of the Tartan Army.
Now, a period of relaxation awaits Ralston before he reports back to club duties at some point within the pre-season schedule.
