GRAEME Shinnie should have spent the past few days downing beers and soaking up the sun in Marbella on his stag weekend instead of toiling hard in training sessions in South America. But the Aberdeen midfielder had no hesitation cancelling the trip when he was named in the national squad for the tour of Peru and Mexico earlier this month. Even if it meant incurring the wrath of his mates.

“They’ve all been texting me and saying they’re back at work,” said Shinnie after taking part in the final workout before the friendly international against Peru in the National Stadium here in Lima this evening.

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It was, though, a small sacrifice to make for an individual who has been repeatedly overlooked for his country despite performing to a high standard on a consistent basis for his Pittodrie club for several seasons now. He is hoping he will be toasting his debut cap with a glass of fizz by the time he returns home on following the Mexico match in the Azteca Stadium on Saturday.

“It will be a monumental couple of weeks for me and with a bit of luck I can go back with a couple of caps under my belt,” he said. “It would set me up nicely for then getting married on Saturday. It will be a perfect summer for me.

“My girlfriend knows what it’s all about. There have been many times in the past when we’ve booked to go here and there and football has upset it. But she’s as desperate as I am to play for my country, she knows how much it means to me. She pushed me on to come out here because she wants it too.”

Shinnie insists that being omitted from national squads in the past had never angered or deterred him, despite many knowledgeable observers in the Scottish game calling for him to get called up.

“I never looked to be in the squad, I never sit and expect to be in, it’s always in hope rather than expectation,” he said. “I try to work as hard as possible at Aberdeen and if that then takes me to international squads I’m delighted. If I was to get my first cap it would mean everything, a massive highlight in my career to look back on with such a fond memory.”

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However, the 26-year-old, who was first called up by his country for the Euro 2016 qualifying double header against Poland and Gibraltar in 2015, confesses that not getting on against the Netherlands at Pittodrie back in November had been hard to bear.

Malky Mackay, the SFA performance director who had taken over on a temporary basis fol-lowing the departure of Gordon Strachan, handed starts to his Aberdeen team mates Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean and his former colleague Ryan Jack that night, but he remained on the substitutes’ bench for the duration of the 90 minutes.

“I’m not going to lie, it was a tough night,” he said. “That game was at home, at Pittodrie, my family were there watching, so it was a difficult night. But it just makes you even hungrier to try and get it.

“I don’t know why I didn’t get on, maybe it was just the way the game was going. There were a couple of other lads, including Jason Cummings, who went on as we were 1-0 down and were looking for a goal to get back into it. A few of us were in the same boat, but it only pushes you on.

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“I wouldn’t say I was embarrassed, more disappointed. I’m obviously keen to get that cap and with my family being there I was desperate for it, but it’s one of these things. My family said the same - just work harder and hopefully it will come around again, which it has.”

Shinnie continued: “I would never give up, it’s not in my nature. I can only do what I can, which is play as well as I can as consistently as I can. If that takes me into the team I’d be delighted. But I would never be upset or disappointed if I wasn’t to get here, it’s really just an added bonus.

Shinnie’s elder brother Andrew, a striker who has played for Rangers, Dundee, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hibernian, was capped by Scotland in a friendly against Luxembourg back in 2012. The midfielder admits that becoming the second member of his family to turn out for the national team would be sweet.

“He hasn’t really given me stick about not playing, but I’m sure deep down he wants to,” he said. “Maybe once I get a cap he’ll rub it in a little, but he probably feels a little bad just now.”

Shinnie is one of several players to turn out for Aberdeen last season to travel to South America – Christie and McLean, who will move on to Celtic and Norwich City respectively this summer, and Scott McKenna – and he stated that seeing them do well for Scotland has given him the self-belief that he can make the step up to international level and perform.

“It’s nice to get the recognition this time for the hard work I’ve put in,” he said. “Scott McKenna has played in his first couple of appearances as if he has already won 40 or 50 caps. That gives me confidence, seeing him going in at such a young age and playing so well.

“I haven’t got my first cap. It would be a massive weight off my shoulders. Playing for your country is the pinnacle of your career. To wear that jersey and sing the national anthem would be unreal.”