John McGlynn saw Marc McNulty shoot his way to English football – and has now backed him to make the grade with Scotland.
McNulty bagged 19 goals under McGlynn’s management at Livingston to earn a move down south to join Sheffield United in the summer of 2014.
After five years away, the 26-year-old returned to the SPFL this season when he joined Hibs on loan from Reading.
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The prolific marksman has caught the eye with seven goals from his last seven games for the Easter Road side to force his way into Alex McLeish’s thoughts for today’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan.
And McGlynn reckons the former Coventry City player richly deserves his international chance because he has taken his game to a new level since his Livi days.
The Raith Rovers boss 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.
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“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.
“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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