SFA performance director Mark Wotte reckons Rangers teenager Lewis Macleod is as good as Ryan Gauld and has spoken with Gordon Strachan about including him in his full international squad.
The 20-year-old midfielder, scorer of a superb overhead kick in the Ibrox club's 1-0 Championship victory against Livingston last week, is the one young player who has really managed to prove his worth as Ally McCoist's side have progressed through the lower divisions.
A mainstay in Scotland squads throughout the age groups and now a key player in Billy Stark's Under-21s, Macleod spent a spell last season battling a heart complaint, but Wotte feels it is only a matter of time before he follows Gauld and Stevie May into the senior set-up.
"I think Lewis Macleod is as good as Ryan Gauld, based on what I've seen in national youth team games against top-quality opposition," Wotte said. "We now play games against better opposition, such as Germany and Holland. Lewis, along with Gauld, Ryan Jack, Ryan Fraser - they can deal with it.
"He's benefited from the confidence and faith Ally McCoist has placed in him. It takes a brave manager to put young players in. That's why I'm really happy that Gordon has given some young players an opportunity to be in the national squad.
"They're like apprentices but that's talent management from Gordon, to give them that chance. It lets them get settled, be in the dressing-room and not be shy. We've spoken about Lewis getting that same opportunity and Gordon is aware of him."
Wotte arrived in Scotland speaking of a 2020 strategy, and his motivation has only increased with the fact that Hampden will now host four matches at that year's European Championship.
"I could see three or four players in that squad who I think will play in a World Cup or a Euros for the Scottish national team, ," Wotte added. "Of course I've thought about a lot of these boys playing for Scotland at Euro 2020."
Wotte has invited Les Reed, the head of football development at his old club Southampton, to brief Scottish teams about their excellent record in bringing through youth players.
"It's a magic formula isn't it, when you can say to a manager: 'you're not getting that player because we have an 18-year-old who is good enough so use him'," Wotte said. "Southampton are a great example of that. We had Luke Shaw, Callum Chambers, James Ward-Prowse, they were all in the Under-13s then. They were good players but they weren't exceptional. But between 13 and 18 there are a lot of things you can do to make them better."
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