THE remit for the head coach of any national team under-21 squad is usually two-fold.

The first part involves shaping a team good enough to qualify for major tournaments. The second is to provide players able to step up to the first team as and when required. The hardest part, however, can often be trying to marry the two.

Billy Stark has been in charge of the Scotland under-21s long enough to appreciate that success can be a double-edged sword. Should any player under his tutelage make a telling impact, then there is a fair chance it won't be long before Craig Levein wants them for the senior side. Such a scenario unfolded this week with the under-21s taking on the Netherlands in a vital European Championship qualifier just hours before the senior side were due to play a friendly.

Stark would undoubtedly have liked to have been able to call upon James Forrest but Levein wanted him too, and so the Celtic winger travelled with the senior squad to Slovenia, where he made a more than favourable impression. Levein's comments afterwards suggested that Forrest's days at under-21 level may now be over, something that must leave Stark with mixed emotions given the under-21s have three group matches still to play in the campaign.

Stark, though, can also take some pride in Forrest's progression, as well as the success of the others he has helped on the way to full international recognition. The likes of Steven Naismith, Graham Dorrans, David Goodwillie and Barry Bannan all developed under him before graduating to the senior squad, and more seem likely to follow in their footsteps. Stark will continue to manage their progress at international level carefully, while doing all he can to guide the young Scots to next summer's European Championship finals in Israel.

While Wednesday night's draw with the Dutch may make it something of an uphill struggle for them to reach the play-offs, it did extend the Scots' unbeaten run in the group to five matches, a sequence that includes an impressive away victory in the Netherlands. There are certainly tangible signs that this is a group perhaps more technically gifted than some of their predecessors, and they looked comfortable and assured in their two performances against the Dutch – a nation often held up as pioneers of youth development.

As Mark Wotte, the Scottish Football Association's performance director, continues to develop his plans to revolutionise youth football, the progress made quietly by Stark and his backroom team is often overlooked. But not by everyone.

"I think Billy's done exceptionally well in the job," Craig Brown, the Aberdeen manager and a former Scotland under-21 coach, told Herald Sport. "They've been unfortunate with their qualifying groups in recent years, twice they've been so near, yet so far. I don't want to patronise him but I would say Billy is ideally suited to coaching the under-21s. We've got Ryan Jack and Peter Pawlett in that group and I know they love working with Billy and his backroom staff. Billy is the most unassuming of guys but no praise can be high enough for the job he has done."

Brown can empathise with the difficulties Stark faces as he tries to gel a squad together while all the time knowing his better players could be recruited by the senior team at any moment. He recalls a time during his tenure as under-21 coach when both he and Andy Roxburgh, Scotland manager at that time, wanted to select the same player before a resolution was reached.

"The priority, obviously, in that situation is the first team," he acknowledged. "It was a shame James Forrest wasn't available to Billy the other night as he could have won that game for Scotland. But that kind of thing happened back when I was doing the job. Andy once took John Collins for a friendly in Saudi Arabia when the under-21s had a quarter-final tie with England. But we sat down and discussed it and agreed that I probably had enough cover."

Brown oversaw one of the golden eras of Scottish under-21 football. He recalls in an instant the success the team enjoyed during his time in charge, while the names who played under him more than 20 years ago still trip off the tongue.

The priority, however, for any incumbent of the role should be to oversee the development of promising aspirants into fully-fledged internationalists.

"Twice with the under-21s we reached the semi-finals of Europe in 1992 and 1996, and another time we reached the quarter-finals," said Brown. "So my experience with that age group was marvellous. I had eight years with the 21s and we had some talented players in that time; Collins, Paul Lambert, Duncan Ferguson, Scott Booth, Eoin Jess and plenty others. We managed to do well in the competitions and also bring some players through, but the latter has to be the priority. Preparing players is key for any under-21 manager."

Qualification for the 2014 World Cup begins this September and Brown can envisage several of Stark's group graduating to the senior set-up at some point during that campaign. "I like the look of Danny Wilson and I'm confident he will come through," he said. "Johnny Russell and Gary Mackay-Steven, both looked promising against the Dutch, and Jordan Rhodes has shown he's capable of making the step up."