It is a mere five days since Matt Phillips endured the crushing disappointment of losing to West Ham United in the Championship play-off final but the Blackpool winger is already adopting a philosophical approach to what happens next.
He can afford to be with a plethora of Barclays Premier League clubs lining up to spirit him away from Bloomfield Road.
Phillips' impressive form – he scored 18 goals for Ian Holloway's side in all competitions in the season just ended – did not just alert the likes of Everton, Stoke City, Reading and Swansea City, however. His excellent form brought interest from much closer to home in the form of Craig Levein, the Scotland manager. Born in Aylesbury and having already represented England at under-19 and under-20 level, Phillips qualified for the Scots through his grandparents and one gets the feeling that England's loss may well prove to be his adopted country's gain, certainly in the short term, for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.
Levein has already indicated he intends to give Phillips his debut against USA in Jacksonville on Saturday and, for the player, it is vindication for his decision to turn his back on the country of his birth.
"I've got no regrets. It was a decision that I made over a long period of time," he said at Scotland's traning base in Florida. "I've had various meetings with the scout, Mick Oliver, and the gaffer so I'm delighted and I'm looking forward to the future. I always thought it was important to come away before the qualifiers to get the experience and get to know everyone and the set-up and I'm really looking forward to the games now."
A hamstring injury denied him a debut in Scotland's last outing, a friendly in Slovenia in February, so naturally Phillips is delighted the wait is about to come to an end.
"Since I made the decision, I've been waiting for the next game. I missed out on the Slovenia game through injury so I'm delighted to be on this trip and hopefully get my cap. I came up and met all the staff and the players in the last squad before Slovenia but I think training is the best place to get to know people and how they play.
"I had my first training session here this morning. It's nice to be around the lads again and get to know them all. It was disappointing to miss the Slovenia game but I didn't want to go out and try to perform at only 50% fit. I'm happy now that I'm free of injury and can go out and play."
Phillips could, of course, be plying his trade in England's top flight by the time Scotland meet up for their opening qualifier against Serbia in September but the 21-year-old is trying not to look to far into the future.
"I don't think you can think about things like that until something happens and Blackpool accept an offer," he said. "I don't think it will be on my mind. I've still got a season and an option at Blackpool so I'll take it as it comes."
Scotland's players will find themselves up against some familiar faces on Saturday night particularly in the shape of the Rangers pair, Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu. The former says he is relishing life under Juergen Klinsmann, the US head coach, who was appointed back in July 2011.
"He challenges me and the other guys to get better every day, every week and it's something we look forward to," said Bocanegra. "We have a great group of leaders on this team, and everyone pulls in the right direction."
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