Saints star gets Scotland call-up

Mar 18 2011 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

MURRAY Davidson was summoned by manager Derek McInnes before training and colleagues warned him he was in for a dressing down.

Instead, McInnes revealed that the 22-year-old was being listed in Craig Levein’s Scotland squad for the challenge game with Brazil at the Emirates Stadium in London a week on Sunday.

Perth fans will celebrate their first full Scottish international for 80 years if the midfielder gets game time against world football’s most glamorous international team.

The samba squad is brimming with superstars from Champions League teams.

McInnes, however, was delighted that Davidson has been given dispensation to face Brechin City in the Scottish Cup replay on Tuesday before flying out to La Manga in Spain to join the Scots squad for the final stages of the countdown to their first clash with Brazil since the opening fixture of the 1998 World Cup in France.

At the Stirling University training base yesterday Davidson, who was on the bench for a clash with the Faroes last year, said: “The gaffer said he wanted a word with me and the boys were joking that I must be in trouble!

“I knew the Scotland squad was being announced at some stage but I’ve tried not to pay too much attention to all the speculation linking me with a call-up. It never crossed my mind the gaffer would be telling me I was in the squad to face Brazil.

“It was a bit of a shock to be honest. But it is a massive boost for me. It would be huge thrill to play for Scotland, but to get my first cap against Brazil would be the stuff of schoolboy dreams. I think I’d have to pinch myself to see if I woke up.

“With the replay coming up against Brechin when Scotland were in La Manga I thought I might not feature in the squad anyway. I had read that some Irish lads might be missing games. So I had put it all to the back of my mind and concentrated on St Johnstone because we have big games against Hamilton and Brechin coming up.”

National coach Levein braved the elements to assess Davidson in action against City in the cup mudbath last weekend but the midfielder laughed: “I don’t think he would have learned much that day. Lionel Messi couldn’t play football on a surface like that!

“The boys here are saying the Emirates is going to be a wee bit different from Glebe Park! There should be grass for a start!

“It’s great to be listed in the squad and there are some top midfielders from the Premiership in there.

“But I want to play against Brechin on Tuesday because it is a huge game for the club with a cup semi-final place at stake. Being allowed to head for La Manga the day after means I get the best of both worlds.

“When you are a kid of seven or eight you fall in love with Brazil and the way they play their samba football. So it would be incredible to make a debut against them. But I’m not getting carried away. I’m taking it step by step and see where it leads.”

McInnes, who secured both Dave Mackay and Davidson for a bargain basement fee of less than £50,000, said: “It was great being able to tell Murray he was in the squad to face Brazil. We are all delighted for him. He couldn’t have been more pleased when I broke the news. And as his manager I really should be at the game to see how he gets on!”

“Having Murray available for the cup replay is perfect for us. He fully deserves his call-up on the back of performances he has been putting in for us. There are a lot of good players available to Scotland in the middle of the park at the moment and they had a great result against Northern Ireland last time out. He was buzzing anyway but this should be a huge boost to Murray. Hopefully he will get game time but just being involved at this level will be great for him.”

McInnes admitted the midfielder had come a long way since he first made an impression on him, literally, playing for Livingston as a raw teenager.

“He has made huge strides since we took him and Dave Mackay from Livingston 18 months ago.

“Murray has become a massive player for us. I remember playing against him for Saints and this big, skinny 16 or 17-year-old took a kick at me. I also kept an eye on him as a manager. He put himself about and imposed himself in a good Livingston side. He gave them a physical presence and I was pleased to bring him to Perth.”

National boss Levein said: “There are 24 players in this squad and it’s fairly obvious not all are going to play.

“Some of the younger ones are here for experience. I feel this is a game that has such excitement, that it would be great for some of the younger players to come along and experience the occasion.

“Murray is one of those. I’m not saying Murray won’t take part in the game but he is more along to gain experience.”