Every week, as reports make their way back to Scotland of Lewis Ferguson’s latest stand-out performance for Serie A high-flyers Bologna, or clips of a goal he has scored are picked up by the Tartan Army on social media, the clamour for his inclusion in Steve Clarke starting XI grows.
It has happened with Ryan Gauld, who the Scotland manager has steadfastly ignored despite years of consistent achievement in MLS, and now it is happening with Ferguson, though the former Hamilton and Aberdeen midfielder is building quite the compelling case in one of Europe’s top five leagues to support the theory that he should be playing a more influential role for his country.
All he can do is carry on performing at the level he has been for Bologna, and hope that it will be enough for him to force his way into the strongest area of the Scotland team. Something Ferguson acknowledges as readily as he does the strength of the competition he is up against.
He hopes though that he has done enough to sway Clarke’s thinking a little more in his favour with his performance against Northern Ireland, and he is determined to continue to exert pressure on his manager by maintaining his fine domestic form in Italy.
“I am enjoying myself over there,” Ferguson said.
“I am performing well, and the team is playing at a really good level at the moment.
“I have improved in every single aspect of my game if I am honest. When you go to Italy it’s really tactical so that side of my game has definitely improved. Sometimes matches in Serie A are like a game of chess and it’s fine margins so I have improved tactically.
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“I have really started to think about the game, think about my position and what could happen. It’s just these minor details that have made all the difference. I am trying to add these aspects to my game.
“Technically, on the ball, I have improved too. The manager wants us to play, it’s really possession based and you get a lot of touches of the ball.
“Off the pitch, in terms of the lifestyle, I think it has really suited me. The culture, the language. I think when you move to another country it’s so important to learn the language and that’s what I have tried to do.
“It improves you as a player and as a person and I don’t think there’s any doubt I have grown as a person since moving to Italy.
“It’s difficult to break into this team because of the quality and depth we’ve got - especially in midfield. It’s probably the best midfield we have had in a long, long time.
“So, it’s difficult to get as many minutes as I want. But I am patient, I am laid back and I am not getting frustrated or beat up about it.
“I am a positive guy. I’m just trying to work as hard as I can and do my best to catch the manager’s eye. There’s not much more I can do.”
Ferguson was given a relatively decent amount of time to impress against Northern Ireland as he replaced injured Scotland captain Andy Robertson late in the first half of Tuesday night’s defeat at Hampden, but it was only later in the game that the gaps began to appear in the massed visiting defensive ranks, allowing his trademark late runs into the area to become an effective weapon.
“I was relatively pleased,” he said.
“If I am honest, I wanted to make more of an impact in the final third. I tried to hit the box as often as possible, try to get on the end of a cross. I was pleased to get minutes on the pitch and look to improve.
“It was a frustrating night, there’s no doubt about that. We were all just really frustrated at the end. It was a difficult game.
“I thought Northern Ireland were good in the way they set up and the way they defended. They made it extremely difficult for us, but we knew they were going to set up like that. We never created the chances we would have liked and that was probably the most disappointing aspect for us.
“When you go a goal behind it gives them something to hang on to. It was a difficult night, but all credit to them.
“We know have two big games coming up against Gibraltar and Finland. Everyone has to go back to their clubs and focus on a strong end to the season. It’s about performing and staying fit and then we can look forward to the summer.
“But it’s important that we win the next two friendlies and get the feel-good factor back. It’s important there is positivity ahead of going to Germany and that’s what our focus is now on.”
By the time the summer rolls around, Ferguson could be a Juventus or a Napoli player, with speculation mounting that Serie A’s big guns are monitoring the 24-year-old.
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His focus for now though is simply on doing his best for Bologna, and if that leads to better things at club level and with his country, then so be it.
“It just goes over my head, to be honest,” he said.
“I am not the kind of guy to read too much into it. I don’t look too far into the future and what opportunities there may be. I am really laid back in that sense, so I only think about training and the next game.
“That’s my attitude towards that. I don’t put a lot of energy into thinking too far ahead. That has served me well.”
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