PATERSON HAPPY TO BROADEN HORIZONS
It’s nice to know I can play both positions and be trusted in both of them
CALLUM PATERSON is pining to be picked as Scotland’s centre-forward after a rocky return to right-back duties in the Nations League. Steven Fletcher led the line for Alex McLeish on his international recall as Scotland suffered a spate of striker withdrawals from Leigh Griffiths, Steven Naismith and Oli McBurnie.
And Paterson was just one of the Sheffield Wednesday front man’s admirers as the team fed off Fletcher’s play to record two vital victories over Albania and Israel.
However, Paterson is in the midst of establishing himself as a striker in the top tier of the English game with Cardiff City and has an eye on wearing No9 for the nation.
The 24-year-old has steadily been shifted further up the park by club boss Neil Warnock since signing as a marauding, scoring full-back from Hearts.
Warnock, who famously told Paterson he ‘can’t defend’, has shuttled him to midfield, winger and now through the middle as a forward. He’s netted three Premier League goals this term.
When asked if his shift is tougher as a centre-forward, Paterson said: ‘It depends what league you’re playing in!
‘Obviously I’ve been playing up front in the Premier League this season, which is a bit different — you don’t get many opportunities.
‘I’d like to play the position with Scotland one day. But I thought Fletch played really well against
Israel and the boys were helping him do the same job. Playing up front has given me a broader horizon. I can see what’s going on from that point of view.
‘For my country, I’ll play anywhere. I’m happy to be on the park, happy to be back.
‘I’ll get a bit of stick (from Warnock), probably! But it’s good to have a manager that knows I like to play in attack and good to have a manager who has faith that I can play at the back.
‘It’s nice to know I can play both positions and that I’m trusted to play both positions.’
Injury to Stephen O’Donnell forced McLeish into inviting Paterson to revert to the right-back role he filled for four-and-a-half years at Tynecastle.
Paterson admits that led to a fraught and unimpressive period of adjustment, but he is prepared to go through it all again if granted the opportunity by McLeish.
‘Position-wise, it was a bit different. Obviously I’ve not been there in a long time,’ he stressed. ‘It takes you a while to get back used to it, to get the rust off. I didn’t play very well in the first game, but I’m my own worst critic and I rectified that a bit against Israel. It took a while to get into the game but I felt I got there in the end.
‘That’s us nicely through the group now, with some games to look forward to in the Euro qualifiers.’
As Scotland await next Sunday’s draw for Euro 2020 qualifying, topping the Nations League group has opened up a second avenue to the next major tournament.
‘At the start, everyone was a bit sceptical about the Nations League and the thought was it could be a bit of a pain,’ confessed Paterson. ‘But it’s actually worked out really well and the boys have loved playing every minute. ‘It’s competitive games and that’s the way to do it. ‘Everyone likes winning games and doing well but at the end of the day, if it’s for nothing, it’s for nothing. ‘We won the games in this group and, at the moment, it’s a bit of an achievement. It’s always great when the stadium is rocking and the fans were amazing against Israel even with it half-full. ‘We still need to win the qualifying games next and, if you finish top two, you don’t need to play the Nations League stuff. ‘We’re going to go in and try to do as well as we can, and if not, we’ve always got a back-up. ‘The gaffer’s always been looking to the future, building for the future. It’s taken a while to get the boys gelling. ‘But some of us have played together with the 17s, 18s, 19s, 21s and now we’re all starting to come together in the first team. It’s an amazing experience and I’m glad to be part of it.’