Law, Dalglish and Souness! Sir Alex Ferguson places Dave Mackay in list of Scotland greats

SIR ALEX FERGUSON believes Dave Mackay is one of Scotland's greatest ever footballers.

19:35, Tue, Mar 3, 2015 | UPDATED: 20:00, Tue, Mar 3, 2015

Dave Mackay heads towards goal GETTY

Dave Mackay (right) played for Tottenham for nine years

Mackay passed away aged 80 today and is remembered for his glittering career at Tottenham and Derby County in the 1960s.

The Edinburgh-born defender played 22 times for Scotland over a 19-year playing career, won the Scottish and English Division One titles and managed Nottingham Forest to the 1975 championship.

And Sir Alex insists Mackay rivals Manchester United legend Denis Law and Liverpool idols Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness as greats of the Scottish game.

"To my mind he's one of the greatest Scottish players of all time and also in the great Tottenham team he was a pivotal man along with (Danny) Blanchflower and Cliff Jones and John White," Sir Alex told Sky Sports.

Dave Mackay was a Spurs legend. We extend our condolences to the Mackay family at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/bVWXPagQFD
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 2, 2015

"It was an incredibly great team but I think he was the pinnacle of the side. He was a fantastic singing form Hearts.

"I played against him once and I'm glad it was only once. He was hard. He was one of the hardest men of all time.

"A great Scottish player, when you think of Dennis Law, Kenny Dlaglish, Graeme Souness. You can put Dave Mackay along with them."

Liverpool legend Dalglish earned 102 caps over his international career, scoring 30 goals.

He is the only Scottish centurion, with Law making 55 appearances and Souness one fewer.