Kristi Montgomery Receives First Senior Scotland Call-Up

Kristi Montgomery has been handed her first senior Scotland call-up as Sebastien Pocognoli’s new era begins with a bold reshuffle of the Nations League squad.

The Blackburn Rovers midfielder, promoted from the Under-21s, steps into the group after Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean withdrew from the upcoming fixtures against Slovenia (home and away), Switzerland and North Macedonia. At 22, and with eight starts from eight in the Championship this season under Tony Mowbray, she arrives in camp in full stride rather than on reputation.

Tierney and McLean leave a sizeable hole. Between them, the Celtic defender and Norwich midfielder have amassed 119 caps, the kind of experience managers cling to when competitive games arrive. Pocognoli, though, has already been forced into a different kind of calculation. Scott McTominay, Che Adams and Lawrence Shankland were all unavailable before he even named his squad, stripping Scotland of three more established pillars.

So the door has opened. Wide.

Montgomery becomes the eighth uncapped player in a 27-strong group, a statistic that underlines just how quickly the landscape is changing. She joins Luke Graham, Robbie Ure, Luis Binks, Colby Donovan, Jon McCracken, Josh McPake and Stephen Welsh in a squad that suddenly feels as much like a trial ground as a finishing school.

Not everyone is new, though. Some familiar faces are back in the fold. Oli McBurnie, Scott Bain, Kieron Bowie, Josh Doig, Lennon Miller and James Wilson have all been recalled, adding a layer of know-how around the rookies. The midfield gains another significant boost with the return of Napoli’s Billy Gilmour, who missed the World Cup through injury and now slots back into the heart of Pocognoli’s plans.

Those inclusions mean high-profile omissions. Dominic Hyam, Lyndon Dykes, George Hirst, Grant Hanley, Anthony Ralston and Ross Stewart are among those overlooked this time, a clear sign that the new head coach is prepared to redraw the pecking order rather than lean on old habits.

Tyler Fletcher, the Manchester United teenager who stepped in for Gilmour during the World Cup in the USA, has been nudged back to the Under-21s, a reminder that the pathway is fluid and unforgiving. Perform, and you stay. Falter, and the next wave is already arriving.

For Montgomery, that wave has carried her all the way from the Under-21s to the senior squad in a single season. The question now is whether she can turn this first call into something more permanent, with a Nations League campaign and a new manager offering the perfect stage to answer it.