BIG INTERVIEW
Moving from a Scottish club to the English Championship is widely regarded as a step in the right direction.
In fact, leaving anywhere other than Parkhead or Ibrox for the cash-rich second tier south of the border is a no-brainer for most young Scots.
Let’s face it, if you can crack it down there people sit up and take notice.
And usually the Scotland manager is one of them.
When Chris Maguire made the switch from Aberdeen to Derby County in 2011, he hoped it would help his f ledgling international career take flight.
But bizarrely for the Glasgow- born striker, it’s turned out to be a block to his cap dreams.
Just three months previously, he’d made his Scotland debut as a Dons player in a Carling Nations Cup win over Northern Ireland in Dublin.
And that summer, on the verge of his £500,000 transfer to the Rams, Maguire was in Craig Levein’s squad for the friendly against Brazil at the Emirates.
Understandably, he felt it was just the start. That he’d kick on down south and rack up caps along the way.
After all, he’d excelled for Scotland’s Under-21 side. Who can forget his goal from the halfway line at Easter Road against Iceland in a Euro play-off tie?
But his first season at Derby didn’t go to plan. He was loaned out to Por tsmouth before joining another Championsh ip side, Sheffield Wednesday.
A f ter an initial injuryhit spell, he was a regular starter and scorer for the Owls. For two seasons he was Wednesday’s top marksman – yet the Scotland call never came.
Currently with Oxford United, Maguire knows Gordon Strachan won’t look to England’s League One for strikers.
But such is his desire to finish what he started – and pull on a Dark Blue jersey again – he refuses to rule out a return to the Championship.
If he achieves that, Maguire believes he can finally force his way back into the Scotland reckoning.
Ahead of today’s EFL Trophy Final at Wembley, where the U’s will face Coventry City, Maguire told MailSport: “I still remember what it was like to be involved in the Scotland squads.
“I was involved for that friendly against Brazil and I got a couple of caps.
“At that point I thought: ‘Brilliant, this will be the first of many.’
“But it’s weird because since moving to England I haven’t been picked.
“I was scoring in the Championship – I don’t think any Scots were scoring more at the time – but I wasn’t selected.
“So it was strange. Normally when you move from Scotland to England it helps your international prospects.
“But it didn’t happen for me. Even now, I’d love to be picked for Scotland and I feel I could get back into the squad.
“But I have to be playing in the Championship. If I am, and they come and watch me, hopefully I can show them what I can do.
“Playing for Scotland still means a lot to me. Every player must want to play for