Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly is in a battle to become Scotland No.1 for this week's Euro 2024 qualifiers with Zander Clark and Angus Gunn.
But the Fir Park skipper says those writing off Craig Gordon's Scotland career are getting ahead of themselves as he insisted there's still plenty of life left in the injured shot-stopper.
Hearts star Gordon has been ruled out long-term after a horror double-leg break on Christmas Eve in the Jambos' 2-2 draw with Dundee United and the 40-year-old is trying to fight his way back to fitness.
The talk this week has been about uncapped trio Kelly, Clark and Gunn, but the notion of 'a changing of the guard' has been dismissed by Kelly, as he seeks his first caps for his country in Saturday's clash with Cyprus and next Tuesday's visit from Spain.
The 27-year-old said: “I understand your question but I wouldn’t be ruling Craig Gordon out yet.
"I'm not so sure it's a changing of the guard.
“There’s an opportunity now because Craig is injured. It’s an opportunity to show what you can do and then we’ll see what the manager does. But I’m not sure about a changing of the guard. I think there’s still plenty of life left in Craig Gordon yet.
“It’s quite frightening how you see him move in training, to be honest.
"For his age he’s unbelievable. Him and Allan McGregor are probably the two best goalies I’ve worked with. That won’t change.”
Kelly has been called up for several camps in the past but a combination of Gordon and Jon McLaughlin have kept him kicking his heels.
Asked what it would mean to get the nod from boss Steve Clarke, Kelly added: "It’s everything isn’t it? That’s why you start playing football when you are a wee guy.
"You don’t ever see it as a reality when you are growing up – playing for Scotland. It would mean everything to me and my family if that opportunity ever came.
“Do I feel I’m ahead of Angus? That’s not my decision to make, is it? Only the manager can answer that. But he’s said it’s a clean slate for everybody. The manager is a really honest man and he’ll mean that.
“We’ll go in and every goalie will try to do their best. He’ll pick the team and it’s out of our hands.”
Kelly goes into the camp off the back of Saturday's battling 4-2 deafeat to Rangers at Fir Park, as new boss Stuart Kettlewell's unbeaten start came to a halt.
The ex-Rangers youth player admits he could have done better against his old club, with James Tavernier's free-kick for Rangers' equaliser squeezing past him at his right-hand post.
He said: "I couldn’t see it at all. I couldn’t even see Tav stepping up to hit it, to be honest. They had two of their guys standing in the wall and that’s so crucial as I couldn’t even see the ball.
“You hope Tavernier doesn’t get it up and over, and you protect your side. If I’m being hypercritical of myself, I could probably say I was half a step too close to my side.
"But I’m still young, still trying to get better and still trying to learn.
“I’ll look at it again and try and improve for next time. I’ve picked up a lot since the manager came in here at Motherwell. We’d a couple of good results and personally I felt I played a lot better and we’ve been playing well collectively.
“There are things you can do better every week. Absolutely. I always look at that. You get better every time you come back from a Scotland trip. It will be no different this time.
“I’m just looking to kick on, see what happens during the week and take it as it comes.
"I back myself, I trust myself and I’ve got a lot of believe in my own ability. But then I’m sure the two other boys will feel the same.”
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