Zander has done enough to earn a Scotland call-up
Zander Clark has been tipped for a Scotland call-up this week by St Johnstone team-mate, Callum Booth.
The Saints keeper has been in excellent form this season, and was Man of the Match – again – in the 1-1 draw away to LASK in Austria last Thursday night.
National coach Steve Clarke will name his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Denmark, Moldova and Austria on Tuesday, and Booth believes Clark should be in the mix.
“I think Zander is well within his rights to think he will get a call,” he said, ahead of Saints’ home game today against Dundee United.
“You would imagine there might be an opening there, and he has not put a foot wrong.
“He is brilliant, he really is. Touch wood, he rarely makes a mistake. His kicking is very good as well, and he is a big presence in the goal.
“A lot of us have played with him for a number of years, and he is a great goalie.
“For me, he is well worth a shout, and hopefully he gets it.”
While the former Hibs man bases his argument for Clark on the fact David Marshall is now thirdchoice at Derby County, and Jon Mclaughlin is not seeing much action with Rangers, he feels every one of the Saints backline has a case for inclusion.
“All the other boys along the back – Shaun Rooney, Jason Kerr, Liam Gordon and Jamie Mccart – must have a chance as well.
“They have all been brilliant for 18 months or so, playing well for the club in really big games. I am talking about cup semi-finals, finals and European games.
“They have done it consistently, and they are all at a good age. They can’t really do much more.
“The Scotland manager has a hard job, and I don’t really know what he is thinking. But with the Euros now finished, there could be a bit of a change.
“He has been to a couple of our games recently, and I am sure he will have been impressed by a couple of our players.
“Hopefully one or two of them can get in because it would be great for the club.”
Booth is likewise upbeat about the Perth side’s chances of landing the £3-million prize of qualifying for the Europa Conference League by seeing off the Austrians in Thursday’s return.
He said: “We have seen the money the club could be getting, so we know that we have the chance to make the chairman a very happy man!
“It would be great for the club and for the city of Perth – and we can make it happen.
“We have got a lot of work to do to get there because LASK are a good team.
“We will need one big effort from everyone to get us over the line. That would be an unbelievable achievement.”