THERE is nobody in the current Scotland set-up, not even the manager Gordon Strachan, who appreciates what the national team’s players are missing out on not being at the Euro 2016 finals this summer more than Stuart McCall.

As well as taking part in the World Cup in Italy in 1990, McCall featured heavily in both of the European Championship finals which his adopted homeland has qualified for, in Sweden in 1992 and England in 1996.

What is more, the midfielder played in every minute of all nine group games at those three tournaments – the only British player to do so.

So the former Everton and Rangers player knows just how much it will pain the current Scotland squad to be the only one of the Four Home nations not to be competing in France in the coming weeks.

“They were great tournaments, brilliant,” said McCall. “We were over in Malta last week for our friendly game against Italy and to prepare for the match against France. It was warm, we were out there training, it was the end of season; that is just what it is like when you go to tournaments.

“Gordon is really good at making sure there is a bit of a buzz about the place when we meet up. He keeps everything very light and upbeat. But it is difficult when you are not there. We all feel that way; the supporters, the coaches, the players. It is a bit rubbish really when you think back.

“They were great. You were away with the squad for two or three weeks playing against some great teams and some of the best players in the world. Obviously, we didn’t manage to qualify for the knockout rounds on any occasion which was bitterly disappointing, but they were good times.”

McCall, who qualified to play for Scotland through his father, started in the first match his country ever played in at a European Championship finals in 1992 in Sweden. It was quite a baptism for both him and his team.

The Netherlands side which took to the field in front of over 35,000 fans in the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg comprised, among others, Dennis Bergkamp, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman and Marco van Basten.

Andy Roxburgh’s men gave a spirited performance against Rinus Michels’s charges – who would go on to lose on penalties to surprise eventual winners Denmark in the semi-finals – and only lost 1-0. Bergkamp netted with 15 minutes remaining.

McCall recalls the Dutch being an exceptional team. “They probably had the four best players in the world at that time in Bergkamp, Gullit, Koeman and Van Basten,” he said. “They were absolutely outstanding. We had a decent team ourselves, but those four combined to beat us.”

A 2-0 defeat to Germany, who would lose to Denmark in the final, followed in Norrkoping three days later and Scotland’s hopes of progressing out of the group stages at a major tournament final for the first time were over.

But McCall and his team-mates finished on a high to send the members of the Tartan Army who had followed them to Sweden home happy. They defeated the CIS 3-0 in their last group game thanks to goals from Paul McStay, Brian McClair and Gary McAllister.

“We played well in that tournament and it was disappointing not to make it through, but, at the same time it was no disgrace when you consider the quality of the opposition we had to face,” he said. “But it was good to finish on a high with a convincing victory.”

In 1996 Scotland were once again drawn to face the Netherlands, hosts England and Switzerl;and in their group. By then being managed by Craig Brown, they managed to avenge the defeat they had suffered at the hands of the Dutch with a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.

Then it was on to Wembley to face the Auld Enemy. A painful 2-0 defeat, with Alan Shearer and, memorably, Paul Gascoigne scoring, followed. A McAllister penalty miss when the score was 1-0 made the loss all the more difficult to bear.

McCall was playing with Gascoigne at Ibrox at the time and he recalls an exchange between the two men at half-time as they walked off the park. “I was never a great one for swapping shirts with opposition players after games,” he said. “Before that match, Ally (McCoist) had asked to get Paul’s shirt. I thought nothing of it.

“But as we were going down the tunnel at half-time Gazza came up to me handed me his shirt and said: ‘That’s for your wee girl’. I had been interviewed on television the night before and had mentioned how much she liked Gazza and how she wanted him to score a hat-trick. It was a lovely gesture from Paul.”

In typical Scottish fashion, the 1-0 win Brown’s boys racked up in their last Group A game against Switzerland courtesy of a long-range McCoist strike wasn’t enough for them to progress. The goal England conceded in their 4-1 win over the Netherlands meant the Dutch went through due to scoring more goals.

McCall, though, is hopeful in the future that some of the current Scotland players get the chance to sample the same experience. “I am the only Scottish player to play in nine games in those big tournaments, 1990, 1992 and 1996,” he said. “I am the only British player to play in every second in every year. I got seven Man of the Match awards as well!”