Aberdeen Women manager Clint Lancaster believes striker Bayley Hutchison deserves a chance to be a part of Scotland’s senior set-up.
The 20-year-old has netted 18 goals in all competitions for the Dons this season and is the SWPL’s fourth top goalscorer with 17.
Earlier this week, Scotland’s squad for next week’s 2025 European qualifiers against Serbia and Slovakia was announced, which prompted concerns from fans about an ageing squad and the pipeline of young talent coming through.
Lancaster believes Hutchison, who has been capped 19 times at youth level, has proven herself at club level and deserves the opportunity to be exposed to the demands of senior international football.
This is the third consecutive season the forward has scored double figures in the SWPL, having netted 11 and 13 in the two previous campaigns.
Ahead of his side’s league clash at Motherwell on Sunday, Lancaster said: “Bayley has to be in the conversation.
“She is someone who needs to be included in a squad.
“I look at it from a club and managing perspective – and when I get a chance to have a look at youngsters in training they come up and train with us. I have had one of our under-16s in with us for the last couple of weeks, so she can see the environment and get used to it.
“I don’t see any reason why that can’t happen for someone like Bayley with Scotland.
“She has certainly got a great goal return considering she is a part-time player with us.
“It says a lot about her, but also about her team-mates who are feeding her the balls to score the goals.
“She is certainly due a call-up. I am not saying she needs to go away and regularly play with the senior side, but being part of the conversation and the environment is what it is about.”
Lancaster welcomes call from Scotland boss about Aberdeen players
Lancaster said he is yet to have any conversations with Scotland boss Pedro Martinez Losa about Hutchison or any of Aberdeen’s talented young prospects.
The Spaniard has previously mentioned how a factor in his selection process is the players’ day-to-day club environments, but Lancaster believes the Dons being part-time should not be held against the likes of Hutchison.
The Dons manager added: “I’ve not had any conversations with Pedro since I have been at the club.
“If Pedro wants to contact me and reach out to ask me anything about my players then, of course, I will have a conversation. That is no problem at all.
“I would always welcome a phone call and I would always be encouraging them to have a look at some of the players we have got here at Aberdeen.
“The difficult thing is we are part-time and that means they maybe do go under the radar from the outside looking in.
“It is maybe not a fair reflection on some of the players we have got here. Some of the players are at university so the only thing they can do right now is play part-time – it doesn’t mean they’re not good enough to be full-time.
“We have to be careful not to overlook players like that, not just at Aberdeen but players who might be in a similar situation at other clubs. That needs to be taken into account.
“I’ll always be happy to have any conversation about any of players representing their country.”
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