Andy Robertson: Scotland captain on reaching Sir Kenny Dalglish’s caps record – ‘He’ll always be the greatest’

Scotland captain Andy Robertson is on the brink of becoming Scotland’s record caps holder, but he will always regard Sir Kenny Dalglish as “the greatest”.

It is 40 years since Dalglish won his 102nd and final Scotland cap in a 3-0 win over Luxembourg at Hampden Park, and on Friday Robertson will equal that number against North Macedonia.

The 32-year-old will then surpass that record on Monday if he plays in the final Nations League game against Switzerland in St Gallen.

“In terms of number, I’ll stand side by side by him but I don’t want to forget and I don’t want people to forget how important this man has been for our country,” Robertson said when asked about matching the 75-year-old’s record.

“For me, he was arguably the best player in the world at his time and he’ll always be the greatest in this country, no matter what happens in the future.

“He’ll always be the first one to do X, Y and Z and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

“We’re not always the best at maybe remembering these great people and I think tomorrow is definitely a reason to do that for Kenny.

“Unbelievably proud, but tomorrow’s not really about me, it’s about him in my opinion, for how long the record stood for starters, for what he achieved in his career, for the person he is.”

Robertson struck up a relationship with Dalglish when he signed for Liverpool from Hull City in 2017.

“We’ve had a lot of jokes (about beating his record), but I know deep down how proud he is of me and how happy he is for me as well.

“I always remember when I got the captaincy, he was one of the first to text me and say ‘I know I’ve been out the game a little bit, but if you need help I can be that person’ and to have someone like that to bounce anything off and rely on (is great).

“Him and his family have been such a massive help to my family, especially in my time at Liverpool, and I’ve got no doubt there will be a couple of texts that’ll be exchanged.

The time when I do go above him, I’ll be above him in caps only and that’s where it ends.

“For me, he’ll always be the greatest of this country because of what he did, how he did it and also the man he’s become.

“We’ve had so many great players for Scotland, but for me Kenny will always stand on top and I don’t think that will change.”

Scotland squad

Goalkeepers: Scott Bain (Falkirk), Angus Gunn (San Jose Earthquakes), Liam Kelly (Rangers), Jon McCracken (Bradford City).

Defenders: James Penrice (Rangers), Luke Graham (Stoke City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Nathan Patterson (Torino), Andy Robertson (Tottenham), Kieran Tierney (Celtic), Ryan Porteous (Los Angeles FC), David Bates ( Amedspor).

Midfielders: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Josh McPake (Hearts), Kristi Montgomery (Blackburn Rovers), Scott McTominay (Napoli).

Forwards: Kieron Bowie (Sassuolo), Findlay Curtis (Rangers), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), Oli McBurnie (Hull City), Robbie Ure (Sevilla), Che Adams (Torino).