The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Souttar’s senior wait as Gemmill calls him in
John Souttar looks like he will have to wait longer for a Scotland debut after being named in Scot Gemmill’s under-21s squad.
The Hearts centre back pulled out of Scotland’s summer tour of Peru and Mexico through injury but was tipped for another call-up after Jambos teammate Christophe Berra and Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna were both struck down by hamstring problems.
But the 21-year-old has instead been named in the pool that will face Andorra and Holland next month in qualifiers for the European under-21 championship.
Scotland manager Alex McLeish, whose side faces Belgium and Albania in September, has played Charlie Mulgrew, Grant Hanley and Jack Hendry in central defence along with McKenna during his four matches in charge so far.
Chelsea’s 17-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour has retained his place in Gemmill’s squad after winning the breakthrough player award in this summer’s Toulon tournament when a Scotland under-21 side reached the semi-finals.
The former Rangers youth player scored on his first appearance for Chelsea’s under-23s side this week.
Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden drops back to the squad after earning a late call-up to McLeish’s squad for the Americas trip.
Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson has earned his first under-21 call-up. The 18-year-old netted an impressive first goal for the Dons against Burnley in the Europa League following his move from Hamilton.