Whittaker happy to be back in the national picture

RETURNING to where his club career began has also enabled Steven Whittaker to wind back the clock with Scotland. Out of the national squad since a friendly appearance against Denmark in March 2016, the 33-year-old could have been forgiven for calling time on any further international aspirations after 31 caps.

Whittaker, though, was unwilling to give up hope. Regaining regular first-team football was his first priority. Seven appearances since leaving Norwich City for first club Hibernian have fulfilled that aim.

Now the right-back has been rewarded further with a recall to Gordon Strachan’s plans for the World Cup qualification double header against Lithuania and Malta.

‘My last game was just before the birth of my daughter,’ he reflected. ‘So I’ve been out of the squad for around 18 months, it’s been a while. I fell out of favour at Norwich City, I wasn’t playing a lot of games.

‘Now I’ve moved back up the road and I’m enjoying playing every week for Hibs again. I’m delighted to get back in the Scotland squad.

‘That wasn’t in my thinking when I made the move to Hibs. Because I’d been out of the international picture, I just wanted to get back playing at club level.

‘I’ve got a young family and I also wanted to get them settled. I got a three-year deal at Hibs and I just want to enjoy the last few years of my career.

‘That was my main focus but if I was playing again, then Scotland was at the back of my mind. I look at Darren Fletcher or Gordon Greer, who have both been in Scotland squads to a good age.

‘Of course it does cross your mind that you have maybe won the last of your caps. All I could do was get back up the road and get playing again. When these things come along, it’s great to be back at this level.’

He is joined in the Scotland set-up by Hibs team-mate John McGinn. The 22-year-old midfielder was the subject of a failed £750,000 bid from Nottingham Forest, but the English Championship club could return with a further offer before tomorrow’s deadline.

Whittaker (below) knows what it is like to be an in-demand young player, having left Easter Road for Rangers in a £2million deal a decade ago. ‘He’s doing so well, his time will come,’ said Whittaker of McGinn. ‘He’s got a sensible head on him and the right people around him.

‘He’ll know what’s right and wrong for him — and he’ll make the right choice when it comes. ‘It’s down to John and his career, the path he wants to take. If he wants to play in England or stay in Scotland, that’s all down to John. ‘It will be a massive loss for us. He’s a great player to have in the centre of the park. But if John wants to progress, he has every right to do so.

‘He won’t be fazed by it at all. He definitely has the right attitude. If he does make the kind of move which has been spoken about, he will go on and do well. He will make the most of his career. Some players don’t, that’s just the way they approach it.

‘Personally, I’ve always been grateful for the opportunities you get. You work hard for where you end up. John’s very much like that. He will work hard and do the right things.’