The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Strachan preaches values of Scottish system
Dons defender Reynolds keeps place
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan insisted homebased players can still develop their talent after handing call- ups to recently-exiled pair Stevie May and Ryan Gauld.
May, 21, and 18- yearold Gauld have been promoted to the full squad for the European championship qualifiers against Georgia and Poland after securing transfers from St Johnstone and Dundee United.
Only three of the 27 playersnamedin the squad ply their trade in Scotland – Aberdeen defenderMark Reynolds and Celtic pair Craig Gordon and Scott Brown.
But Strachan claimed May had been in line to receive a call while at the Perth club and was adamant players can still hone their skills in the Scottish game.
When asked whether May’s move to Sheffield Wednesday and Gauld’s switch to Sporting Lisbon would aid their development, Strachan said: “I really don’t know, only time will tell. Players can develop in most places.
“When I was at Dundee I used to go back in the afternoon with Bobby Robinson, John Duncan, George Mackie and practise crossing and finishing. The hours are there if you want to use them.”
Strachan, who left Scottish football as a 27-yearold when he moved from Aberdeen to Manchester United, added of Gauld: “I wouldn’t say his style was any different from Shaun Maloney, and that has been developed in Scotland.”
Strachan called up Callum McGregor for the recent 2-1 defeat in Germany following his breakthrough
“It’s good to meet the new players and see how they interact”
at Celticandhehas another young player in mind to bring into the squad for the Ibrox match against Georgia on October 11 and the Warsaw encounter three days later. “There are good young players,” he said.
“I like to do that. If you look at the squads over the last year or so, I like to bring in people that I don’t know.
“I like to see how they deal with the squad and I just like to meet them.
“In the future I’m sure they will make an impression and will be regulars in the squad.
“It’s good to meet the new players and see how they interact with the rest of the squad.
“I may add another one into that, a player I have only seen from afar.”
May has scored three goals in eight Champion- ship starts since moving from St Johnstone to Sheffield Wednesday.
“I saw him last week against Reading and I was pleased with him,” Strachan said. “He did enough to get picked. We were going to get him in the squad against Nigeria but there was a big game for the under-21s. It was always going to happen for Stevie. We didn’t pick him the last time because we wanted to make sure he settled in at his new club.”
Midfielder Brown returns after missing the 2-1 defeat in Germany with a hamstring injury.
His Celtic team-mates McGregor and Charlie Mulgrew drop out, the latter having picked up a knee injury, along with Wolves midfielder Kevin McDonald.
Reynolds keeps his place after getting a late call-up for the opening qualifier against the world champions. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has suffered another injury blow to his squad after a scan revealed midfielder Ander Herrera sustained a fractured rib against West Ham at the weekend.
The 25-year-old Spaniard, a £28.8million signing in the summer from Athletic Bilbao, has been an important member of Van Gaal’s side and becomes the 10th player in the United squad to be injured.
Herrera, who is facing several weeks on the sidelines, wassubstituted in the 74th minute of the 2-1 win against the Hammers after suffering the injury.
The club say his progress will be monitored over the next few weeks but it is not known exactly how long he will be out.