Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson has opened up on being a standby for the Euros with Scotland last summer - and now he's desperate to help them reach the World Cup.
The 22-year-old from Hamilton made his debut for his country in September against Denmark in Copenhagen and is in the latest squad for tomorrow's massive qualifier in Moldova, as well as Monday's Hampden clash with the Danes in their final Group F match.
Ferguson is hoping to play his part in leading the national side to another tournament and getting a taste of the major international stage for the first time.
But he revealed he came close to experiencing that this summer when he was put on standby for Clarke's men at Euro 2020.
Speaking to RedTV, he explained: “I worked hard over the summer before we came back to training.
"When last season finished, I got a call from Steve Clarke just before they announced the Euro squad and he told me that I was among the reserves for the tournament, so if anybody got injured or fell ill, I needed to be available to be called into the squad.
"They sent me a training programme for a couple of weeks, they sent me the GPS tracker and all of that, so I carried on training for that period after last season ended.
“After that, I got away for a few days break but then as soon as I got back home, you know that pre-season is just around the corner, so I trained as much as possible and when we came back the first day and did the bleep test, it went really well, and I finished on top.
“Getting into the senior squad and getting on the pitch for Scotland is nice proof that I didn’t let all of the summer speculation get to me, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be playing for the national team if my form had suffered.
“It’s every kid’s dream to go and play for their country and to have the chance to do that at such a young age is great, but it doesn’t stop here, I want to have a successful international career.
"That’s not easy because I think over the last few years, the midfield area especially has been very strong for Scotland.
"It’s been tough to get into the squad so now I want to stay there and then try to get a starting place."
Ferguson came off the bench late on in the 2-0 defeat to Denmark in Copenhagen to land his first cap and the former Hamilton Accies star reckons he already feels right at home among the group.
He added: “I felt quite comfortable going into the Scotland squad because I already knew about half of the boys anyway from playing in the 21s, and I’ve played against a lot of the rest over the last few years. Everybody made me feel really welcome.
“Being on the bench for the Denmark game was a great experience.
"It was disappointing that we lost the game, but Denmark are one of the best sides in the world at the minute, as they showed at the Euros. It was good to just be in that stadium.
"The atmosphere was incredible and to watch from the side-lines and being ready to be involved was exciting.
"To get on the pitch was great even though it was literally two or three minutes.
"I was delighted to play for Scotland, and nobody can take that away from me now."
His next outing came in Vienna a few days later as Scotland held out for a vital 1-0 victory that could ultimately prove the pivotal moment in the group.
And he added: "“Austria was different, we were defending the lead, we needed that win.
"I don’t really get nervous, but I knew I had a job to do. It’s weird when you go on at 1-0 up in such an important game.
"The only thing that’s running through your mind is don’t concede a goal. I was told to just go on and buy some time, get forward when there was a chance. It was only for five or six minutes, I touched the ball a couple of times, but we got over the line and that was brilliant, a fantastic result."
Attention now turns to Moldova tomorrow evening and Ferguson will be itching to get that third cap and help the Scots seal a play-off spot for the World Cup, having been an unused sub in the recent wins over Israel and Faroe Islands.
“With the results since [Austria], it’s in our hands now to get that play-off spot," he added.
"Everybody wants to qualify for another major tournament so hopefully we can seal that spot.”
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