BRILL GAME

CalMac and Billy the finest double act since Jack and Victor and Celts skipper delighted the midfield Clansmen are back together

- KEITH JACKSON

THEY'RE the most cherished Scottish double act since Jack and Victor.

And on Sunday night in Stuttgart the script will be perfectly written for Callum McGregor and Billy Gilmour to make sure that we're still game, as far as hanging around at this European Championship is concerned.

For reasons which remain best known to himself, Steve Clarke chose to split this pairing up for the opening day of Group A - a savage affair during which his side was given a mauling all over midfield.

By leaving Gilmour on his bench, Clarke surrendered any hope of controlling the centre of the pitch in favour of deploying Ryan Christie further up the field in the role of a willing runner.

As a consequence, McGregor found himself hopelessly outmanned and outmuscled as the Germans came flooding at him in their droves. And, after a 5-1 whipping, Scotland were panned by the critics and dismissed as no-hopers.

That all changed in Cologne on Wednesday night when Gilmour and McGregor were reunited for the 1-1 draw with Switzerland which has breathed new life into Clarke's hopes of mounting a historic run into the knockout stages.

Put it this way, nobody is pointing and laughing at this side any more, not now that Jack and Victor are back together. And no one is happier about that than McGregor.

The Celtic skipper beamed: "Billy was excellent. When he comes in he takes the ball and gets us playing.

"I like playing beside him because he will take the ball and will start to connect the game. At this level you need to have the ball, you can't just defend for 90 minutes. It's important that when you get it, you retain it.