Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Blair Meikle

Scotland-21s boss insists talent is there as key positions addressed

Scot Gemmill is convinced Scotland have enough quality players coming through despite concerns around some key positions in Steve Clarke's squad.

Many fans feel the first-team at national level looks short of options in certain areas, particularly in goals, the centre of defence and at striker. 

Steve Clarke named his squad this week for World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus. The goalkeeping options are Zander Clark, who hasn't convinced so far this season for Hearts, and Angus Gunn and Liam Kelly, neither of whom are first chice for Nottingham Forest or Rangers respectively.

The Tartan Army are concerned about the heart of defence and centre forward too, where the likes of Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams and George Hirst retain their places, although Kieron Bowie offers some youthful hope.

Gemmill's own squad for European Championship qualifiers against Czechia and Portugal was released today and features red-hot IK Sirius striker Robbie Ure, Hearts talent James Wilson and Sheffield United's Ryan One as attacking options.

There are four goalkeepers included, suggesting there is depth of talent there, while defenders include Dundee United's highly rated youngster Sam Cleall-Harding, a graduate of the Scottish FA JD Performance School.

Asked whether he feels reassured there is enough talent coming through, Gemmill said: "Well, I definitely feel you can see that with Tommy Conway obviously did it in the striker position and Kieron Bowie is another example.


Read more:


"Regarding the goalkeepers, I think this is the first time for competitive games we've selected four goalkeepers because we are of course conscious. And like I've said regarding all the players, we know we need to give the opportunity to as many as possible because you just don't know which ones are going to emerge, because there's so much goes into whether a young player gets his opportunity at club level, and that's so important, obviously.

"We want to see the goalies. Graeme Smith, the Head of Goalkeeping wants to see the goalies. Chris Woods, who works with the men's A wants to see the goalies. So of course everybody's aware of it and you can see that we're trying to help as much as we can in that regard by bringing four for the first time that I can remember doing that for a competitive game."

Concerns have been raised, too, about the amount of Scottish youngsters getting a meaningful opportunity in first teams at club level.

A recent move to rectify this saw the Scottish FA introduce a Loan Cooperation system which allows clubs to strike agreements with sides in other divisions to be able to loan youngsters freely between each other across a season.

Gemmill welcomes the first sign he has seen of such an initiative being introduced to support young boys hopeful of making a career in the game.

He explained: "I definitely feel in my time working with the Scottish FA, this is the first time I feel there has been a real significant rule change to support the young players and make it easier for the clubs to work and help them and find a way to get them minutes.

"And I think you can see that by the movement already. Already the clubs are taking advantage of it. I think they can see the power and the influence that it can have."


Read more:


A new name in the squad is Rangers winger Findlay Curtis, who has had first-team minutes early this campaign and has been a bright spot in a difficult start for his club. Curtis has three goals to his name already, including a clincher against Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying.

The Scotland under-21s manager is pleased to see Russell Martin place his trust in the 18-year-old. 

"He's influencing the games when he's had the opportunity," he said. "And of course, goals are so important for every team. So I just think it's really great that the manager's trusting him to play, putting him on in real difficult moments of the game.

"You have to have a lot of trust in the players to do that, and that's a real measurement and gauge of how much he does trust him and the potential that he sees. So it's great to see him getting that opportunity."

Asked what he likes about Curtis, he added: "I think he's showing he can be in the right place at the right time in terms of the goal he scored at the weekend. He's in the right place at the right time.

"It's a brilliant knack to have and he's shown that he can play on both sides, cutting inside from the left and shooting with his right foot and also when he actually came on on the right-hand side. So I think it's really important for the young players to have that positional flexibility. He can play in different positions.

"Of course, there are players that really specialise in one position, but it's also very advantageous for the young players to be able to play in different positions and Findlay's showing he can do that."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.