McTominay: How Ferguson and Fletcher inspire me
Scott McTominay will hope to help reboot Scotland's Euro 2020 campaign on Friday, when his country take on England at Wembley (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Steve Clarke's team suffered disappointment in their opening game of the tournament, when they went down 2-0 to the Czech Republic.
But McTominay is nothing if not mentally resilient, and he and his team-mates will look up at their meeting with the Three Lions as a massive opportunity to record a historic triumph.
And the midfielder has some inspirational champions in his own corner, whose words are driving him on at both club and international level.
We're talking, of course, about our legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson and five-time Premier League winner Darren Fletcher – both of whom are big heroes to McTominay.
And, in a recent fans' Q&A, which will be released in full on our platforms this Friday, Scott explained how both of his famous admirers are helping to push his career forward.
“My dad was telling me [about Alex Ferguson's praise for me],” admitted our no.39, when Jack from the United Kingdom asked McTominay how it feels to receive praise from such an iconic football figure.
“It’s obviously such a huge honour to be spoken about by someone like Sir Alex, never mind the nice things he was saying about us and Scotland. For me, it’s a chance to keep pushing and chance to not stop pushing forwards, hopefully making everyone proud of me.”
Meanwhile, Fletcher's influence on the player has been more hands-on – the Scot was named the club's Technical Director in March 2021, and the former Red has also been an important consultant on the training pitch.
“Darren has been absolutely amazing whenever he’s come in,” McTominay replied, to a question from Sharon from Nigeria.
“He’s been a breath of fresh air. All the lads have really taken to him. He was a proper player and is a proper football man. Michael Carrick, the manager, Mike Phelan, are all men who know the game inside out with vast experience of many different leagues.
“For myself, it’s brilliant that I’ve got some of the best guys I could possibly wish for to help me with my game. I have to soak it in and maybe one day, be in a position like that and can say I was learning from them and the cycle continues.”
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