BORN in England to an Italian dad and a Scottish mum, the highly-rated Nottingham Forest youngster Alex Iacovitti could have played for all three countries. But the 18-year-old, a target for Aston Villa opted for Scotland and it may just be that he ends the nation's long wait for a quality international defender.

The Achilles heel in Gordon Strachan's senior side during the recent doomed Euro 2016 campaign was the inability to defend and, with a lack of emerging stoppers coming through, Scotland have been crying out for a glimmer of hope in the defensive ranks.

They may just have found one in the classy Iacovitti, who was a stand-out as Scot Gemmill's Under-19s kids qualified for the Elite Round by crushing the Republic of Ireland 4-0 in Limerick last week.

Scotland only lost one goal in the three games they played and Iacovitti showed why he was linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League in the summer after impressing for former Scotland striker Dougie Freedman's Forest youth teams.

He says he has no regrets about choosing to play for Scotland nor does he have any regrets about Villa not following up on their initial interest.

He said: "I’ve loved every minute of being involved with Scotland, honestly, It’s a great buzz. This is only the qualifying round so we’ll keep our feet on the ground.

"My Mum’s Scottish. She was born in Edinburgh so that’s the link. I get a bit of stick for my surname. It doesn’t exactly sound very Scottish! My Dad’s Italian so I could play for one of three countries.

"A guy called Dave Webster at Nottingham Forest flagged me up to the SFA when I was about 15 and I’ve been involved ever since at the various age levels. I've played Under-16s through to the Under-19s now. My Forest team-mate Oliver Burke joined in later on with Scotland and it’s good to have him along with me.

"Dougie Freedman’s great with me on a daily basis. He’s had me on the bench a couple of times, I’ve been involved with the squad and trained with the first team. He talks to you after training and is a great gaffer.

"There was talk that I would go to Aston Villa in the summer. There was interest from them, but it didn’t come to anything and that suits me because I’m enjoying my time at Forest."

With all the doom and gloom enveloping Scottish football, Gemmill's kids at least proved there is plenty of talent coming through.

His Under-17s reached the semi-finals of the Euros last year and that squad is the backbone of his current 19s team, who are awaiting the draw for the Elite Round next month.

Youngsters such as the exciting winger Burke, Celtic's Joe Thomson and Aidan Nesbitt and Cheslea's Ruben Sammut were excellent in the three games in Limerick.

Iacovitti has been impressed with what he's seen.

He pointed out: "Scotland-wise, this is the best group of players I’ve been involved in. The lads are all in or around their first teams, if not playing every week.

"We don’t fear any team in the elite round and obviously we’ve beaten teams like Germany, so that gives you confidence.

"I missed the Euros in Malta when the Under-17s got to the semi-finals because I broke my leg making a tackle I shouldn’t have in training. It was unlucky at the time but I’ve bounced back and I’m stronger for it.

"Oliver’s taken his chance at Forest. He’s a bit older than me and he’s been in and around it a bit more and I’m sure he has big things ahead of him. He is a good player.

"It was immensely satisfying and I’m overjoyed that we’ve gone through. I thought we were more than decent against Ireland. We knew we had to produce."