Gemmill eyes promotion for youngsters

Scot Gemmill will gladly see his Scotland under-21 squad depleted next month if Steve Clarke comes calling.

The Scotland seniors have three home games in a week in October starting with the playoff semi-final against Israel on the 8th before Nations League matches against Slovakia and Czech Republic.

To that end, Clarke revealed he will name an expanded squad and Gemmill believes that could incentivise his men in tonight’s European Championship qualifier in Lithuania, though any promotions could leave the Under-21s short to face the Czech Republic on October 10.

On the possibility of players being called up by Clarke, Gemmill said: “You might follow that up by saying would that effect the under-21 squad?

“I hope it does. That is the objective, to help these players get that opportunity.

“If that happens, we will obviously adjust and it means younger players getting the chance to come with us. It should be standard procedure and it is great to see it is starting to happen more and more.”

“A few people might be surprised to hear my comments, the priority has always been about the development of the players. We have been lucky to qualify for the finals at the younger age groups when I was working with under-17s, we qualified for four straight European finals and, of course, that is very important for the players to get that exposure and further experience.

“But at the same time it doesn’t guarantee that they move on to the next level. It is about us giving that experience to the right players.

‘‘We all know that not every under-21 player goes on to play for the full squad.

“It is about us trying to zoom in on players we feel can go all the way so we are using this experience to its full potential.”

Gemmill insists a qualification spot remains up for grabs.

The young Scots have eight points from five games in Group 4 with five matches remaining.

Scot Gemmill: Hopeful.