John McGlynn has watched Marc McNulty take his game to a new level from the penalty-box striker he had at Livingston - and believes he thoroughly deserves his chance on the international stage.
With the likes of Steven Fletcher and Leigh Griffiths ruled out, the on-form Hibs striker is in line for a possible dream Scotland debut in Thursday’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan.
The on-loan Reading marksman has netted seven times in seven games since breaking his duck at Easter Road in the Scottish Cup victory over McGlynn’s Raith Rovers six weeks ago.
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And the Stark’s Park boss reckons the 26-year-old has shown he has improved immensely since their season together at Livingston when McNulty’s 19 goals earned him a move south to Sheffield United.
He said: “I had Marc at Livingston and he did really well that season and ended up getting his move to Sheffield United, but he’s now a more rounded striker, from what I can see.
“We played Hibs in the Scottish Cup last month and he scored that day and if you look at his game in the second-half against Rangers, for example, I thought he was excellent.
“And we don’t have an awful lot of options for striker.
“I’m actually delighted for him. He’s a good lad, for a start, but his game has developed, he’s better now than he was, and hopefully he’ll agree with me saying that.
“He’s always been a goal-scorer, always been a penalty-box striker, but I think he’s better now, and I’ll need to phone him and ask him what actually managed to flick the switch."
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He added: “It’s maybe just experience. He’s gone down to England and played for Sheffield United and on loan at Portsmouth, and Coventry and now Reading.
“He was always a good, good striker, but now at Hibs, with a good partnership with Florian Kamberi, I think he’s better all-round and I think he thoroughly deserves his call-up.”
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