With James Forrest and Jordan Rhodes likely to have secured a one-way ticket to the senior side, and the Dundee United pairing Johnny Russell and Gary Mackay-Steven suddenly appearing to be afflicted by injury, a door of sorts has opened for Aberdeen's Peter Pawlett to stake his claim to be involved in the matches which will define Scotland's hopes for European Championship qualifying in Israel in 2013.

There is a gap which has opened up in goal, too; both Mark Ridgers, of Hearts, and St Mirren's Grant Adam having been placed on the presumed injured list ahead of next month's crucial qualifiers against Luxembourg and Austria. Tottenham Hotspur's Jordan Archer is well-placed to benefit from that particular problem – the youngster came on for Ridgers after 41 minutes in the defeat by Belgium under-21s on Tuesday night – but it is Pawlett who has offered the greatest cause for optimism ahead of his side's two vital qualifiers.

Certainly on the evidence of the match at East End Park at least, the injury plagued, English-born 21-year-old – he qualifies for Scotland via the schooling rule, having been brought up in Banchory – looks as if he is ready to grasp his opportunity. His performance was one of the genuine plus points from the narrow loss to the Belgians and, whether it has been the catalyst for an upsurge in the player's form or not, his re-emergence comes to a backdrop of increased competition for his first-team slot at Pittodrie.

Where last season Aberdeen had the look of Alf Ramsey's wingless wonders, the likes of Jonny Hayes, Niall McGinn and emerging youngster Ryan Fraser are in the mix for starting places out wide. "Touch wood, so far this year I have stayed injury free; that is the most important thing," Pawlett said. "I am 100% fit. In terms of match fitness, I played 15 minutes against Ross County but I want to be more involved with the first team.

"Ryan [Fraser] has been doing well; he is a good player with a lot to offer," added the diminutive right winger. "They have brought Jonny Hayes in – he is a good player as well – and Niall McGinn, although he is injured now, which is a shame for him. There is competition for places so it will keep us all on our toes.

"It is maybe too soon to think about going on loan, but I want to play first-team football, and if that is the only available option then I will quite happily do that. It is a very important season for me. I need to play so I will give it a couple of weeks, speak to the manager and see what happens.

"There is a lot of confidence in the team; there always is at the start of the season. We are quietly confident in the dressing room, even though the first two results haven't been the best. We should have got a draw at Celtic Park and could have got three points at the weekend but we are all confident."

As for Scotland under-21s, Pawlett has been around Stark's squad for almost the entire campaign, but still craves the chance to be a big contributor at the business end of the competition. "Hopefully, I can push myself into the team," he said. "We have got Gary Mackay-Steven and Johnny Russell possibly out and, if there are injuries, hopefully I can show Billy that I can do a job for the team. We have got a good set of lads, and we have all got good ability. I played the last 15 minutes when we won in Holland and it was a great night. I came on for James Forrest, who was tremendous that night."

Forrest won't be coming back any time soon and his one-time understudy may yet claim a starring role.