THE growing strength of Scotland at under-21 level might be demonstrated by the omissions as the much as selections in the latest squad. There is no place for the player just judged the country's outstanding prospect, Rangers' John Fleck. The SPL's top scorer, Ross Forbes, who has bagged seven goals for Motherwell this season, didn't make the cut either. Likewise St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson, arguably the form player in the top flight.
Coach Billy Stark doesn't much care for these judgment calls being "couched in such a way by you guys as suggesting players are no good, or can't do this and that" and encouraging a "pretty ridiculous" sense of injustice. "You pick international squa
ds with the best intentions to do the best for our country," he says.
For the trip to Azerbaijan, where a required win next Saturday would make it three victories from four European Championship qualifiers, Stark has largely gone with players who performed throughout the campaign. If Fleck, Forbes or Davidson were to be accommodated in their best positions, it would mean supplanting those who have been pivotal performers in recent months.
Of course, there is one exciting, and almost inevitable, new inclusion in the latest U21s list. Scoring form would have made Dundee's Leigh Griffiths almost impossible to ignore, but the 19-year-old striker has also benefited from the suspension of Dundee United's David Goodwillie after his booking in the nail-biting win over Belarus last month.
Before his sumptuous free-kick strike in the Tayside club's Co-operative Insurance Cup loss to Rangers the other week, Dundee manager Jocky Scott – who paid Livingston £125,000 for the player in the summer – said Griffiths could achieve everything in the game if his attitude remained right. He has netted ten times in 17 appearance for the Dens Park club following a one-in-two scoring ratio across 50 outings for Livingston.
The player's call-up means Scott will be denied his services for a home game against Queen of the South on Saturday. "Sometimes things come up that can't be helped, but I keep good dialogue with coaches," said Stark. "I get on great with Jocky and he recognises and accepts the situation. He signed Leigh, and it might be the one that gets him to the Premier League. So he would probably have expected Leigh would get international recognition."
