4 Scotland U21s talking points as Denmark emerge victorious and Glenn Middleton joins 50 Club

Gifted Gustav Isaksen was the match-winner as Scotland under-21s slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Denmark.

The Midtjylland winger fired home the only goal of the night from 20 yards after dancing in from the right flank.

Scotland will rue missed opportunities from Glenn Middleton and Scott Banks, albeit the visitors could have made the game safe after the break.

Courier Sport was at Tynecastle to watch Scotland’s next generation continue their Euro 2023 qualification journey.

Pressing matters

Scotland are to be commended for their aggressive, front-foot attitude in the opening exchanges.

St Johnstone attacker Middleton was the trigger man for a tireless press, constantly haranguing the Denmark defenders and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Lewis Fiorini, Jack Burroughs, Adam Montgomery and Ben Williamson — all fine athletes — followed Middleton’s lead and gave the visitors some nervous moments.

However, a such a strategy has inherent risk.

Against a side with Denmark’s quality, they are capable of keeping their composure, finding angles and breaking through the lines.

That is what happened for Isaksen’s opener, with Burroughs missing his challenge before the ball found its way to the tricky winger, who cut inside and fired home.

City’s Slicker

Scot Gemmill had an almighty dilemma between the sticks.

To select Cieran Slicker, with 66 minutes of football at this level under his belt; Brian Kinnear, with 24 minutes; or Ross Sinclair, who played the full match in last month’s 1-1 draw in Turkey.

Gemmill plumped for the the Manchester City youngster, an undoubtedly fine prospect.

However, the 19-year-old will feel he should have done better with Isaksen’s opener, which took an awkward bounce and zipped past his despairing dive.

Slicker did recover manfully and make a couple of sharp stops either side of the break.

But St Johnstone’s Sinclair can consider himself unfortunate to have been left on the bench.

The 50 Club

In a dressing room containing the likes of Zander Clark, Liam Gordon and Liam Craig, it would be fair to say Middleton is not considered one of the more vocal players in the McDiarmid Park dressing room.

For Scotland, however, he showcases burgeoning leadership qualities.

The joy of Tynecastle is the proximity of fans and media to the pitch and you could hear Middleton — winning his 50th cap at all youth levels — constantly organising, encouraging and cajoling.

He also sought to lead by example and, but for a fine second half save by Hermansen, would have salvaged a point for Scotland.

The road to Tannadice

Next month will see Scotland under-21s return to Tannadice for the first time since Billy Stark’s charges faced Hungary in 2014.

On that occasion, Callum McGregor and Ryan Fraser netted.

And the upcoming clashes against Kazakhstan and Belgium have been afforded additional significance.

With one point from two matches, Scotland find themselves trailing Belgium and Denmark in Group I.

Should Turkey beat Kazakhstan on Monday, Gemmill’s side will be three points adrift of them.

In that context, those nights in Dundee will be huge.