Tony Docherty has praised Findlay Curtis for his leadership as well as his performance level after his starring show for Scotlamd under-21s.
After dropping down from the senior team, the Rangers winger showed no signs of that affecting him negatively as he grabbed four assists in the 5-2 win over Azerbaijan, also having a hand in the other goal.
Two of his assists were crosses from the right after getting at the full-back, while two came after driftign inside to get involved in the play.
Docherty revealed Curtis has been part of a leadership group with Hearts' James Wilson and Manchester United's Tyler Fletcher, as well as heaping the praise on for his performance.
“I challenged the players before the game to try and create an identity of the Under 21s group and I think they did that,” said the Scotland under-21s boss.
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“They did brilliantly. I came back with those two, with James and Findlay and we created a wee leadership group, and they’ve been instrumental. The attitude and the togetherness of the squad, along with Fletch [Tyler Fletcher] has been brilliant. There are others that I’d put in that as well. They deserve huge credit, because the easiest thing could have been to be a bit petulant, that sort of thing.
“They’ve done themselves massive favours. Alan Irvine [Scotland assistant] was here tonight and he’s seen the level of the performance. But, as a coach, you don’t just see the level of performance, you look at the attitude and the mentality towards it. There’s has been exemplary.
“Curtis was outstanding and there were so many really strong performances with Tyler Fletcher great in the middle of the park too. Their attitude was great and we have a leadership group now. I am really pleased for the players because it's important they got their reward.
"We were dominant and had a setback, but the response was brilliant. We knew we were out before it [the game], but I said to the players who are at the end of their journey, they have a responsibility to make sure we end the campaign on a high and try to get into Pot Three which we can do with a win in Bulgaria.”
Asked if Curtis and Wilson could now return to the top team, he added: “Possibly. I’ll speak with Sebastien [Pocognoli] tomorrow in the morning. But Alan Irvine was here watching the game with Chris Woods, and they’ll have seen a strong performance. Not just that, they have seen these lads display a brilliant attitude.”
