Brendan Rodgers says there is absolutely no doubt that Luke McCowan can play for Scotland, as he tipped the Celtic midfielder to win a call-up to Steve Clarke’s national side.
Rodgers has been massively impressed by the contribution of the former Dundee captain since he made the move to his boyhood heroes in the summer, and he put in another eye-catching display as he grabbed a goal and three assists in the 5-0 rout of Ross County at the weekend.
And the Celtic manager believes that the 26-year-old has all the attributes required to represent his country.
“I don't think there's any question of that,” Rodgers said.
“I think if you look at the tools that he has, because I've seen it for many years, that every good player can't play at international level.
“International level for me is about technique, the technical idea and having a level of speed that allows you mobility to get around the field.
“So, you'll have some really good players, but just who maybe aren't quite cut out for that mobility and fast pace at international level.
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“Luke has that. If I look at him technically, physically - that was the analysis that we did before bringing him in to see where he was at in terms of his running power, his physicality. So that's there at a really, really high level. So, we know he can do that.
“Technically, he's finding the comfort now in the game. Tactically, like I said, he's shown that you see how quickly now he's adapted.
“Him and Paulo Bernardo were brilliant at the weekend in terms of how they linked together. So that tells you he's learning all the concepts and principles of how we play.
"Like I said, he has personality and there's absolutely no doubt. You play for Celtic, he's going to be able to play for Scotland, for sure.”
One of the things that has impressed Rodgers most about McCowan has been his hunger and desire to not only improve himself as an individual player at this stage of his career, but to also better understand how he can adapt his game to better help the team as whole.
McCowan was filmed quizzing his manager after the win over County at the weekend as the rest of the squad took their lap of honour, and the Celtic manager revealed he was picking his brains on certain aspects of the gameplan.
“It was just on the pressing towards the end of the game,” he said.
“We'd sort of shifted our pressing structure and he was just getting clarity around that there.
“He's a learner, there's absolutely no doubt about that. He's got a great career ahead of him here at Celtic. He has all the tools.
“I think coming in, like I said, it's not an easy adaptation to come into a big club with big expectations and pressure, but he's settled in really, really well. He's now one of us because I see this winning mentality. I see the hunger he has to learn. I see the humbleness every day and how hard he works.
“He knows when he comes off the bench, when he starts a game, the opportunities he has for him to make an impact.
“It's so important to have guys that are hungry and want to learn.”
And it is also important to Rodgers to have people within the dressing room he can rely upon to pass on their experience.
“He’s a joy to work with,” he continued.
“I think when you've got guys like Callum McGregor, it's the beauty of having players like Callum McGregor because then you create more Callum McGregors.
“That's why you have top, top professionals. The learning that he will get on a day-to-day basis from seeing the likes of Callum and working with the coaches and myself, you have to be curious, you have to want to learn. He's certainly one of those.”
Rodgers says that McCowan’s improvement has been so impressive that he cannot be considered a ‘squad player’, and that along with a few others, he has given his manager plenty of food for thought ahead of the game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow night.
“He was fantastic for Dundee, but was able to come into here and step by step throughout a process, he's now come in and absolutely been first class,” he said.
“So, he and the other players that come in have done very, very well, but they're not cover players.
“I would have absolutely no hesitation in starting the same team at Aberdeen tomorrow night [as I did against Ross County].
“However, we always have to plan for the games and the proximity of the games and obviously over the course of the coming months.”
