Scotland boss Steve Clarke has stated that former Hibernian prodigy Josh Doig's deserved call-up to the senior squad will benefit the youngster in the future by 'showing him there is a pathway'.
Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Greg Taylor and arguably Aaron Hickey are all judged to be ahead of Doig in the pecking order for Scottish left-backs at present, especially with the first three achieving unwavering success in their roles on the European and domestic stage recently. Having seen Hickey join Bologna and succeed in securing a move to English Premier League side Brentford this summer, Doig's move from Hibs to Hellas Verona could see him down a similar path should he develop as expected in the romantic Italian city.
Yet with injuries to Nathan Patterson and Robertson alongside Calvin Ramsay still being out of action at Liverpool, a full-back shortage has ravaged Clarke's plans - so calling Doig in for back-up has occured way sooner than anticipated. It is unknown yet as to whether the former Hibs starlet will feature for his nation so soon; but the former Kilmarnock boss has stated that even if not, being in the environment will make Doig hungrier for success in the future.
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"Josh is the captain of the (Scotland) under-21s, he did very well at Hibs. He's obviously in a position where we have good quality players but I just felt this was a chance to bring him up and show him there is a pathway and give him a chance to be around the squad," Clarke said.
Another call up has been granted to Declan Gallagher, with the St Mirren defender being selected in the squad for the visit of Republic of Ireland and the trip to Ukraine, having achieved nine caps in his career so far, he hasn't had one since the Euro 2020 warm-up schedule against Netherlands and Luxembourg. And Clarke has insisted that his return is welcome after a series of spirited displayed for the Buddies.
"I know Declan from when he was in the squad before. He's got experience - don't forget he was part of the Euro 2020 squad and he had a fantastic match away in Serbia against (Aleksandar) Mitrovic so he's got the qualities we might need over the next two games."
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