Scotland midfielder John McGinn views the double-header against Israel and Portugal as ideal respite from the ongoing problems at his club Aston Villa.
The Villans have made a poor start to the English Championship campaign and currently sit 15th in the table, which prompted the dismissal of manager Steve Bruce last week.
Having joined Villa from Hibernian in the summer, McGinn has been left to speculate on who his new manager will be, with the likes of Thierry Henry and Rui Faria having been linked and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers appearing to rule himself out.
McGinn feels the international break is a welcome change of focus.
He said: “Obviously when you are at a club that has demands, there is going to be turbulence at some point.
“When you go down and see the place, it’s an eye- opener. It’s a club that deserves to be in the top half of the top flight, a massive club. And that means it’s very demanding.
“Whoever comes in, it doesn’t matter what name they are. If they’re not getting results, there will be pressure – you feel it as a player. It’s something you should thrive on, playing at a big club. Obviously it’s exciting that the club is attracting big names but it comes with the territory. You’ve got to prepare and you’ve got to produce.
“We never know what’s going to happen, but the international break has come at a good time for me, in that sense.
“Hopefully I get a couple of games for Scotland, go back and have a new manager to settle in with.”
Despite his club’s struggles, McGinn has enjoyed a promising start to his own Villa career, opening his account with an outstanding volley in a 2-1 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday last month.
The 23-year-old says the subsequent poor form took the shine off the strike, adding: “It went viral. But we eventually were beaten and the manager was under pressure. I wish it had been under better circumstances.
“Obviously I was delighted to get the messages of support from around the world. When I hit it, I knew it was in. Then it hit the bar and I had a wee panic. It was nice to score a goal like that. But it didn’t help the team that day.
“It was still a defeat and it started a negative run for us.”
