Youth players deserve call-up Aspiring Saints stars impress Stevenson
Head of St Johnstone’s youth academy Alistair Stevenson believes more aspiring Perth stars are deserving of international recognition.
The McDiarmid Park under-16 squad have been beaten only once all season with the current under-17s yet to taste defeat in their league campaign.
Stevenson has watched his players ply their trade and not look out of place against the likes of Karamoko Dembele of Celtic and Rangers prospect Billy Gilmour.
There has been some recognition with Perth players Nathan Brown, Cameron Ballantyne and Euan O’Reilly called up to the Scottish under-18 schoolboys squad for the Centenary Shield.
“We feel like some of the boys deserve the recognition at Under-17 level with the SFA group,” Stevenson said. “They are competing against the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen.
“We played in the St Andrews tournament at the start of the season, all Premiership teams, and we won with going unbeaten in the process.
“Our guys have played against the young lad Dembele from Celtic and Gilmour from Rangers.
“Although they are outstanding, our boys do not look out of place at all.
“So we feel we are due a bit of recognition. Our goalkeeper is exceptionally good, Ross Sinclair, from Scone. He has been on the periphery of the squads.
Youth players Nathan Brown, Cameron Ballantyne and Euan O’Reilly
“International recognition is great for us because we get the credit for it. And it’s good for the fans to see we have players of that standard.
“But I think the fans will be getting to know these boys over the next few years. A lot of them are local, which is good and they are all buying into it.”
Brown, Ballantyne and O’Reilly - the latter from Auchterarder headed for Belfast yesterday ahead of Friday’s game with Northern Ireland’s schoolboys squad.
Stevenson said: “The three play with our under-17s. Nathan Brown came to us from Hibernian. He is also a member of the Scotland rugby under-18s and is in the sprint relay team. So he’s a real all-rounder and is a big boy.
“We got Cameron Ballantyne via Hibs and Hearts, and he’s a player who has been doing well for us. And Euan O’Reilly is a winger from Auchterarder and goes to the Community School of Auchterarder.
“All three boys have featured for our under-20s team at some point. We put them forward for the trials and they were fortunate enough to be picked.
“They have already played against Australia in a friendly and have taken part in the Centenary Shield.
“The first game was against England and they were heavily beaten 5-1. But Nathan scored the goal.
“They then beat Wales 5-1 down there and on Friday afternoon they take on Northern Ireland at Cliftonville’s ground. The final game is against the Republic of Ireland back in Scotland.”
Higher up the age groups, it’s been a tough season so far for Saints’ under-20 team, who currently sit bottom of the Development League.
There is no cause for concern says Stevenson as the squad has been forced to play a youthful team to plug the gaps left by players heading out on loan.
“We had to make a decision whether to put some of the guys out on loan or keep them together,” Stevenson said. “But we’ve always felt they were better to go out on loan.
“Jason Kerr and Mark Hurst are at East Fife, Liam Gordon and Aaron Comrie at Peterhead and Connor McLaren is at Stirling Albion.
“We were comprehensively beaten by a strong Hibs team earlier this week. But before that it’s been draws or the odd goal.
“They don’t like being down at the bottom of the table - it doesn’t sit well with them.
“There is still some debate as to whether it will be under-20s or an under-18s and a reserve league next season.
“We’re not sure where we are with that but the good thing is that we have quality players moving up from within the academy.
“If we do get anyone from outwith, they will need to be better than what we’ve got.”