Gemmill excited by emerging talents Doak and Wilson
Under 21s
SCOT GEMMILL bel i eves starlets Ben Doak and Rory Wilson could be the most exciting Scottish emerging talents produced for a long time after both were fast- tracked to his Under 21s squad.
The young Scots will face Northern Ireland this month in a friendly double-header in Belfast and Paisley and Gemmill has included 11 new faces in his squad.
Doak and Wilson both won eyecatching moves in the summer from the Old Firm to the English Premier League. Ex-Celtic winger Doak opened the scoring for Liverpool last week in the UEFA Youth League in Napoli, while Wilson has impressed since joining Aston Villa after netting 49 goals for Rangers at youth level last season.
The pair were in the Scotland Under 17s squad with Wilson playing at the Euro Finals in Israel in May while Doak was injured. They have both been promoted straight to the Under 21s and Gemmill is excited with their progress.
He said: “Rory Wilson is actually in Spain right now with the Under 17s at their training camp and I think this is a very good example of how football works.
“The manager, Brian McLaughlin, thinks that even in the very short space of time between the Euros Under 17s Finals in May and now, he’s seen a really big improvement in Rory in his all-round game and his finishing.
“This is a great chance to bring him in straightaway to the Under 21s and give him that opportunity. Of course, it will be tough for him because he’s competing with Tommy Conway at Bristol City, Kieron
Bowie at Northampton and we have some really good options.
“But just speaking to the staff about how highly regarded Rory is within our set-up made it an easy decision to bring him in.
“As for Ben, it’s gamechanging to have the ability he has. To beat your man is so rare and so valuable along with that pace he’s got. Ben has the kind of pace that can change games and scare any defence at any level and that’s why we are giving him this opportunity.
“It’s really exciting to see a young Scottish player who can beat his opponent and can really cause the opposition harm and impact the game.”
Meanwhile, Scotland will send an Under 18s team to an invitational tournament in France this month after they were invited to the Lafarge Foot Avenir by the French FA.
A Scotland team managed by James Grady will play against the hosts, Poland and Estonia from September 21 in Limoges.
“It’s an invitation from the French federation and we just felt that age group need to play extra games because they missed a lot of that experience because of Covid,” Gemmill said.