THE height of Stevie May’s ambitions at this particular moment in time
will simply be to follow up on the double he scored for Aberdeen
against Dundee at the weekend with more goals.
After all, the brace the 24-year-old netted on his debut at Pittodrie last Saturday, which ensured his new club ran out narrow 2-1 winners, doubled his haul in the previous three injury-ravaged seasons.
Just getting his name on the scoresheet once again when the club he joined in a £300,000 transfer earlier this month take on Partick Thistle
in a Ladbrokes Premiership match at Firhill tomorrow will satisfy the striker no end.
Playing for Scotland – as he did in the international friendly against England at Parkhead back in 2014 – will be the farthest thing from his mind just now.
Yet, Billy Stark, the former Aberdeen player who gave May his first cap during his six-year stint as manager of the Scotland Under-21 side, believes the player is capable of forcing his way back into the national set-up if he continues scoring regularly.
Stark feels his country would, despite Leigh Griffiths finally establishing himself as first choice centre forward last season, benefit greatly from the presence of another young, hungry, prolific scorer.
“How Stevie will do at Aberdeen is a difficult one to gauge because he has been out for so long with injury,” he said.
“Obviously, it didn’t happen for him in England, but I am sure the injury [he sustained knee ligament damage playing for Preston North End in 2015] he suffered had a lot
to do with that.
“It has been unfortunate for him. That can happen. But I would imagine there would have been a fair outlay involved in the transfer, given that he has come from England. When you are spending that sort of money, you want to be as sure as you can be about a player.
“Derek [McInnes] always spoke highly of him when he had him at
St Johnstone. He alerted me to Stevie at Under-19 level.
“What really struck me about him was his attitude. He worked hard for the team in a defensive sense as well as up front. He was always a willing runner. He has really tidied up the rest of his game since then as well.
“He scored a big goal on his debut for the Under-21s against Slovakia at St Mirren Park in 2013. He lashed it into the net. Stuart Armstrong also scored and we won the game 2-1. They were a good side too.
Stark added: “The Scotland striking department has come in for a bit
of criticism because of the age of the players. There are a few guys,
the likes of Steven Fletcher and Steven Naismith, who have been there for a long time.
“They will certainly need to inject some freshness into the squad up front somewhere along the line. If Stevie has a good spell in the next six months or so and carries on the way he has started off then I am sure the Scotland manager will consider him.
“Leigh Griffiths had to wait for a long time to get his chance and now that he has he has done well and has taken it. To get into the squad
you have to show decent form over a long period of time before you
can think about getting called up. Stevie’s got some good players in
front of him.
“But he will be hoping that he can continue the way he has started. If he does, then he can force his way into contention.”
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