Former Dee defender dreams of Scotland call

Motherwell defender Declan Gallagher says it would be a dream come true for him and his family if he makes his Scotland debut this month.

The 28-year-old former Dundee player has retained his place in Steve Clarke’s squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan after winning a late call-up last month.

The centre-back has excelled since moving from Livingston this summer following several successful years in West Lothian.

And he is looking to further push his case for an international debut when Motherwell take on Celtic at Parkhead tomorrow.

“It would be a dream come true,” he said. “Any boy will tell you, thinking about playing for your national team, singing the national anthem would mean the absolute world to me but also my family as well. I was in the house with my family when the manager (Stephen Robinson) phoned me and told me I was going to get a phone call, sort your visa out, you are going to Russia.

“Getting the phone call when I was sitting with my daughter and wife, it was unbelievable.

“I think they were actually more excited about it than I was. Although my daughter did say to me ‘I already knew that, Daddy’. She must have heard before me.”

Gallagher spent two years at Dens and helped Dundee win promotion back to the Premiership in 2013-14, playing every minute of every league game before sealing a move to Livingston. He feels the move to Fir Park has helped him showcase his talents.

“I always knew Motherwell were a club that like to play football and that’s what I like to do,” he said.

“I felt I needed a fresh challenge. After five years at Livingston I felt I was becoming part of the furniture there.

“Motherwell suit my style of play so I was really happy to come here. I feel the manager and backroom staff have brought my game on massively.

“Playing out from the back has been big. No disrespect but we didn’t do that at Livingston and I always felt that was one of my major attributes was playing with the ball.

“Livingston helped me massively and they are a big part of my call-up with the coaching I got there.”