Ross County boss Stuart Kettlewell is hopeful Staggies goalkeeper Ross Doohan will be given an opportunity with Scotland’s senior squad in the coming months.
Doohan, who is on loan at Victoria Park, has established himself as first choice for Scot Gemmill’s under-21s side, and could face Greece in tonight’s European Championship qualifier in Athens.
Scotland goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods last week spoke of national team coach Steve Clarke’s desire to integrate under-21 players into the national team setup to fill the number three goalkeeping slot behind David Marshall and Craig Gordon.
With Livingston’s on-loan Rangers goalkeeper Robby McCrorie having been selected for the last two camps in October and November, Woods suggested Doohan could be next in line for a call-up.
With Doohan having impressed in his four appearances since joining the Dingwall side in the summer, Kettlewell is hopeful the 22-year-old can gain senior recognition among Clarke’s squad which has just qualified for next summer’s Euro 2020 finals.
Kettlewell said: “It is a great idea. They’re looking to see if they can start the progression from under-21s to the first team. From our viewpoint, it would be nice if it was Ross Doohan.
“It might not be a bad idea to do it with some of the top under-21s as well.
“They might not be quite at that senior level, but just to integrate them into the group and experience the top team environment and standards involved.
“I think it is a brilliant idea. These guys would come back feeling 10ft tall having gained some great experience having been involved with some top players and coaches.”
Kettlewell has taken heart from seeing on-loan Rangers midfielder Stephen Kelly regularly featuring alongside Doohan in the under-21 squad, while left back Josh Reid has also broken into Billy Stark’s under-19s pool.
Kettlewell accepts County have traditionally struggled to put players on to the international radar, with the Staggies boss insisting the club’s geography can count against them.
Kettlewell added: “We’ve had Stephen and Ross in the under-21s and Josh with the under-19s. That’s something I’d love to continue. If we could take that up into the main international squad it would be brilliant.
“For our club to get some sort of recognition and guys catching the eye of international groups of whatever age is excellent.
“We do feel it is a challenge for us, even prior to Covid-19, as we don’t feel we get the same exposure for some of our young players as we might in the central belt.
“I’m from Glasgow and have stayed up here a lot of years, and I know the exposure in the central belt a lot of the time is far greater for young players.
“You should only get the call if good enough, but in truth the likes of Josh Reid only getting the call at under-19s now, while great, is probably a stage or two too late.
“If there are boots on the ground watching these guys regularly, I’m 99.9% sure Josh would have been involved in that setup a year or two before.
“Hopefully with the TV channels and exposure we have now on a Saturday, there are more people watching some of our young players. We’ll see how they progress.
“My big message is they have to do the job and produce going through the levels.”
