Keanu Baccus insists Graham Arnold’s Tartan Socceroo recruitment drive is proof Scottish football is thriving.
And the St Mirren ace admits he’d love to see even more Scots join Harry Souttar, Martin Boyle, Jason Cummings and Alex Robertson by following their international dream Down Under. Arnold revealed his plans to poach more of our stars this week claiming the Aussie’s recent World Cup qualification record compared to Scotland’s should make it an easy task. Durban-born Baccus realised his World Cup dream in November and went head-to-head with Lionel Messi as Australia were eventually KO’d by champions Argentina.
The 24-year-old’s first call-up came after he swapped Sydney for Paisley last summer. And he said: “We want to have the best Australia squad we can. Whoever is available out there we want to recruit to help us be the best we can in every tournament, whether that’s from Scotland or other countries.
“Arnie seems to pick a lot of Scottish boys just now because everyone has done so well. It’s a competitive league and it’s credit to the Scottish game as well.”
Aberdeen-born Souttar, whose mother is Australian, has become a Premier League star with Leicester off the back of his World Cup with the Socceroos. And Baccus added: “The last 12 months for Harry has been amazing.
"I’m super happy on that and that we can grow on what we’ve done and have a lot more to prove. Whoever is playing well who has some sort of Australian blood in their genes then they are obviously going to watch.
"If they’re in good form they’ll get their chance and then it’s up to them. But they have to want to play for Australia as well.”
Back in the here and now the Saints midfielder is preparing for a pivotal point in the battle for the Premiership top six against Livingston in Paisley this afternoon. Livi are a point ahead of the Buddies in sixth spot with four games to go.
And Baccus said: “It’s my first season experiencing the split. We want to be in the top six and fighting for Europe. This is a big game, they all are.
"The rest of the season we’re going to look at as cup finals because the season we’ve had it would be very disappointing not to make that top six.”
Stephen Robinson has Charles Dunne back from suspension and Declan Gallagher available after a hamstring injury. The St Mirren boss laughed off Livi counterpart David Martindale’s claim that the pressure was all on the Buddies who have trips to Ibrox and Tynecastle coming up after this afternoon’s meeting.
He said: “I think both teams want to win it but I’m sure Davie is trying to put pressure on us, the only pressure is from within, we have done so well this season and we are desperate to turn it from a good season to a great one.
“If you get into the top six we can chase Europe so both clubs have incentives. I don’t buy into one game is massive. We could lose this game, but pick up points in the next three and still make it.
“We are at home and we have been excellent in Paisley. We’ll go about it in the right manner, if we got three points it would be fantastic and put us back into the top six and in the driving seat but we need to do it in the games after this one.
“There’s no reason why we can’t get points at Tynecastle and then Ibrox before playing Kilmarnock at home. We have competed well against them and I have no fear going to Tynecastle and Ibrox with this group of players.”
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