Could Billy Gilmour be given a late wildcard into Steve Clarke’s Scotland Euro 2020 squad?
The national boss has refused to bow to public pressure and has made the Chelsea midfielder wait to step up from the Under-21s.
But now the door appears to be open with Ryan Jack and now Kenny McLean out of this summer’s finals.
The midfield engine room is the one area where Scotland has genuine strength and depth, with Callum McGregor, Stuart Armstrong, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, John Fleck and Ryan Christie – and the bulk of them can also play in a couple of positions.
McTominay can drop into central defence and Christie, Armstrong and McGinn can step into a more advanced role.
Gilmour has had to bide his time under club boss Thomas Tuchel but is now making an impression at the Champions League finalist Blues again.
The 19-year-old has produced some superb performances in his fledgling career against Liverpool and Man City.
Frank Lampard showed great faith in him and it was a knee injury that curtailed his progress at the start of the season. He has to be patient among Chelsea’s superstars to make his mark under Tuchel.
At the weekend he showed his class again in the 2-1 win over new champions City.
Tuchel believes Gilmour should be in the squad and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was to make a call to Clarke sooner rather than later.
For the moment Gilmour wants to let his football do the talking.
The former Rangers youngster never looks fazed and it seems the bigger the better for him.
Gilmour has shared a pitch with the majority of the England stars who Scotland will face at Wembley and never looked out of place.
Others might argue if another midfielder is to go it should be Celtic’s David Turnbull or even Ryan Gauld at Farense.
I’d say Gilmour is more a direct replacement for Jack or McLean.
The good thing is Clarke has options. His squad is now up to 26, giving him three extra picks and lessening his selection headaches.
He chose a larger squad for the recent World Cup qualifiers and that was without Liam Cooper – out through Covid – and fit-again James Forrest. Both are likely to come back in.
Another debate has been the goalkeeping position. National hero David Marshall has lost his place at Derby County while Jon McLaughlin has hardly played at Rangers. That means Hearts’ Craig Gordon is the only one of the three playing regular first-team football.
There has been a clamour for a recall for Allan McGregor. The Rangers No.1 has had an outstanding season but it was his decision to retire. Yes, he also started the Nations League campaign that has taken us to the Euros but once you say you don’t want to play for your country that should be it.
Clarke faces an anxious wait before next Wednesday when he is scheduled to name his final squad.
