SCOTT McTominay has assured Scotland supporters he has no intentions of defecting to England as he prepares to make his second international appearance against Peru here tomorrow evening.
McTominay attracted interest from both Alex McLeish, the Scotland manager, and Gareth Southgate, his England counterpart, after impressing during an extended run in the Manchester United first team earlier this season.
The 21-year-old was born and brought up in Lancashire – but his father hails from Helensburgh and he opted to play for this country and made his debut in a friendly against Costa Rica at Hampden back in March.
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The 6ft 4in midfielder withdrew with a back injury immediately after that game and before a match against Hungary in Budapest – sparking fears among the Tartan Army that he may switch allegiances.
A player isn’t cap-tied until he has featured for them in a competitive fixture under FIFA rules and there are numerous examples of dual nationality players changing which team they turn out for in recent years. Diego Costa (Brazil and Spain), Jermaine Jones (Germany and the United States) and Nacer Chadli (Morocco and Belgium) have all done so.
But asked if he might still opt to play for the country of his birth in future, McTominay said: “There is absolutely no chance. You can dismiss that one.
“Whenever the squads are out you are made up when you get a call from the boss. It is such an honour to be called up again. All the boys in the squad have shown a real commitment and want to play in the games. We are in exciting times. For sure, I want to be here.”
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There was a great deal of debate about which country McTominay would chose to play for earlier this year and he admitted that Southgate had sent him a text enquiring what his intentions were and arranged a face-to-face meeting.
But, speaking in his first interview with the Scottish press since his sudden rise to prominence, the player revealed there was never any doubt in his mind about who he would represent.
“It was an easy decision for me to play for Scotland and to make my granddad so proud,” he said. “It was never really a decision in my eyes. I was desperate to play for Scotland to play as many games as you can.
“I just want to make all my family in Helensburgh proud because that is where my Scottish family are from. I spoke with my granddad when I was younger and it would have been a dream for him to see me play for Scotland. To see him win my cap against Costa Rica was an unbelievable experience.”
McTominay added: “There was genuine interest from England. I took it on board and took it as a compliment and I was happy with that. But, as I say, I just wanted to play for Scotland.
“I didn’t actually see him (Southgate) in person, but there was a text message. There was a meeting set-up with Gareth Southgate but by that time I had already made my mind up.
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“Alex drove down and there was the personal touch I was so grateful when he came down to see me. He was in the manager’s office, chatting to me. I had to thank him for showing an interest in me and driving through that storm and bad weather to see me.
“I was really grateful for that. It made it that little bit sweeter than the manager (McLeish) had driven down to see me.”
McTominay revealed he would be prepared to play against both Peru in the National Stadium tomorrow night and Mexico in the Azteca Stadium on Saturday.
“I am only 21 and I want to keep going, he said. "I would go the whole year if I could. I had a run at the end of the season and I need to try and take that into these matches. I just want to keep working hard and doing well.”
“They will be a different challenges in different environments and we are all looking forward to it”
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