Declan Gallagher hopes he can fight his way back into the Scotland squad after starting to pick up a run of games under new Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin.
Scotland's World Cup play-off semi-final with Ukraine is set for March 24 - although the match could be pushed back due to Russia's invasion of the country last week - and Gallagher is keen to be a part of the next squad, having yet to get a call-up since he left Motherwell for the Granity City in the summer.
The 31-year-old from Blantyre has struggled with Covid issues and a hamstring injury since he was signed by former Dons boss Stephen Glass.
But he has enjoyed a good run in the side in recent weeks and appears to have won Goodwin's faith to stay there.
Gallagher, who helped Scotland qualify for last summer's Euros in that memorable penalty shootout win over Serbia, now hopes consistency at Pittodrie can lead to a recall for the national side.
The former Motherwell skipper told the Daily Record : “It is something I always have my eye on. But first and foremost I need to perform for Aberdeen.
“I am happy to get this run of games and hopefully now I have seen the back of Covid and my injuries I can kick on and show the reason why I came to this club.
"I want to show why they signed me and showed such faith in me.
“Hopefully I can repay that faith. If that means I can get a call-up for the World Cup qualifiers as well then that would be the best of both worlds."
He added: "It [has been] tough as I’m used to playing every week but after my first training session here I had to isolate for 10 days because my wife got Covid.
“From there, I missed a fair chunk of pre-season in general so I was playing catch-up.
“Then when I did get in the team I did my hammy against Hibs so that was another six to eight weeks out then Covid again just after Christmas.
“It is tough because you come here with the big reputation.
"A lot of people know me for the Serbia game against (Aleksandar) Mitrovic. You see how well he is doing (at Fulham) compared to how my season has gone. I don’t have any social media and I don’t see the criticism.
“Hopefully, I can impress the Aberdeen fans by getting results for the club.”
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