Hornby hopes he’s on fast track with French move
FRASER HORNBY insists he’s playing in one of the best leagues in the world after becoming the first Scot in 20 years to clinch a permanent move to a top French club. The 20-year-old sealed a £1.75million switch to Reims from Everton this summer following a successful loan spell at Belgian side Kortrijk. And fresh from making his debut in Ligue 1 last weekend, he will lead the Scotland Under-21s attack tonight as they resume their European qualification campaign against Lithuania in Vilnius. The last Scot to join a leading club in France was Derek McInnes at Toulouse in 2000 — although Steven Fletcher had a loan spell at Marseille four years ago — and Hornby is keen to make a similar impact. ‘The chance of playing in Ligue 1 was why I was really keen because I knew how good the league was and how high the calibre of teams were,’ said Hornby. ‘Reims told me they thought I was the first Scottish player for years to play in Ligue 1, so that’s an achievement for me. ‘I was aware there was interest for quite a while and, once the season ended, it was done quite quickly. ‘Reims came to watch a few of my games in Belgium. ‘They saw what I could do and my loan at Kortrijk opened up more chances and got me a move to France. ‘The standard is very high. There’s a lot of physicality in Ligue 1 and the technical standard is excellent, too. I made my debut last week against Lille and hopefully I can kick on. ‘Last season, Reims got into the Europa League and finished sixth, and this season our aim is to do even better.’ Now Hornby is anxious to help Scotland get the win tonight that would keep Scot Gemmill’s side in the mix for Euro qualification, with home games still to come against Croatia and Czech Republic as well as trips to San Marino and Greece. But he is wary of the ultradefensive Lithuanians, who secured a goalless draw at Tynecastle last October, saying: ‘We need to find a way to break them down and we’ve spent a lot of time looking at ways we can exploit them.’