No sooner had Jay Rodriguez been named in the England squad for the first time ahead of this month's friendlies than one of his former managers was also being called up.

"This will be the fourth time this afternoon I've spoken about wee Jay . . ." said Allan Moore, who took the forward on a short-term loan to Stirling Albion five years ago.

Being asked to go over old ground might have caused the Morton manager to drag his feet a bit had he not already found his stride, with Moore only shying away from the suggestion that he may have helped Rodriguez find his way into his national team. The 24-year-old will leave Southampton next week and head out into international waters, his 13 goals since the club arrived in the Barclays Premier League - including four this season - helping to convince Roy Hodgson to make contact. Moore also intends to get in touch with his former player and the pair have traded a few messages in the past, with Moore receiving a congratulatory text after he left Stirling to take over at Cappielow in 2010.

Rodriguez did not waste much time in elevating his company either after he left Forthbank at the end of the 2007/2008 campaign. Having been loaned out by Championship club Burnley, the forward would make his way to Southampton three years later in a deal reported to be worth £7m and has since grown into a mature top-flight performer. It is that player who will be wrapped in an England tracksuit ahead of matches with Chile and Germany, but Moore is still able to strip that image back to reveal a figure of more modest aspirations.

Rodriguez was just 18 when he agreed the move to Stirling, and had not expected to make his first appearance as a substitute in a Scottish Cup defeat at Celtic Park just a day later. It would prove quite a journey, then, even if subsequent trips to Scotland were a little less glamorous.

"He was with us for a few months and a couple of times when he came up he had a difficulty getting back home," said Moore. "His train or his bus would be cancelled or other times he was getting a bus at 11 at night and not getting back to his home down in Preston until four in the morning. From that point of view I think you could say he earned his spurs.

"Owen Coyle was the Burnley manager and he knew Jay had the ability, but Owen wanted to know if the boy had the right attitude. Sometimes ability is not what it's all about but Jay was a great lad and didn't complain once. He came to a team which was part-time and in the first division but he didn't turn up and act like he was Billy Big Time."

Instead Moore cast the teenager as a source of encouragement for a club in need of one; Rodriguez scored three times as Stirling toiled against relegation. It was a role similar to that performed by another future internationalist during the previous campaign, when Robert Snodgrass had joined on loan from Livingston to help reinvigorate Stirling's efforts to gain promotion through the play-offs.

"I'm still waiting for a signed Scotland shirt from him," said Moore. "I'll maybe get one from wee Jay if he gets a game. I couldn't have told you at the time that he was going to be the player he is now. He has kicked on and gone to a better club and is playing better football. But in terms of attitude, aye you could tell he would do well. He had the attitude you need to get to where he is and I saw that in Robert Snodgrass as well. They both just needed to believe in themselves a wee bit more."