Dundee striker Greg Stewart insists he will not give up on his Scotland dream despite failing to win a place in either of Gordon Strachan’s squads for this month’s friendly double-header.
The national team face the Czech Republic in Prague on March 24 before hosting Denmark at Hampden five days later.
Strachan plans to use the games to assess his players ahead of the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in September and has named two different 19-man squads for each match.
But while Dens Park keeper Scott Bain was named in the travelling party to face the Czechs, there was no place for Stewart despite his impressive form for Paul Hartley’s men.
The 25-year-old forward has even been linked with a move to Rangers on the back of nine goals he has struck for the Dark Blues this season.
But the former Cowdenbeath frontman admits he is shocked to be even mentioned in the reckoning for a call-up just 18 months after leaving Central Park.
He told Press Association Sport: “I wasn’t sure what to think about my chances of being included. There’s a lot of good players in the squad and a lot who didn’t get in either.
“I’m delighted for Bainy, he has had a call-up before but got injured so hopefully he gets his chance.
“But I just need to keep on doing what I’m doing and you never know, one day I might get that chance.
“I won’t take the huff with it. I’ll just keep working hard. If I am ever in Gordon’s thoughts then that would be good. I just need to keep working hard and one day I might get the chance.
“A few years ago I’d never even have thought I’d get a sniff at playing for Scotland so even been talked about for a call-up shows how far I’ve come. Now I just want to do my best for Dundee and keep improving.”
There was more disappointment for Stewart on Saturday though as his side lost a hard-fought clash to Hearts at Dens.
The Jambos dominated the first half but Dundee hit back after the break and wasted three golden chances before Jamie Walker grabbed the winner for the visitors.
Substitute Rory Loy should have equalised late on when put clean through on Gorgie keeper Neil Alexander but failed to find the net.
“We had a massive chance late on with Rory but it can be hard coming on as a sub, especially with the quick tempo of the game at that time,” said Stewart.
“He has done everything right apart from score. He took a great touch, composed himself and kept his shot low so I suppose we have to give the keeper credit for a great save.
“Rory is really disappointed but he won’t dwell on it. The next time he gets that chance I trust he’ll take it.”
Walker was relieved to keep third-placed Hearts on the tails of Aberdeen with his fifth goal in his last seven games.
The winger said: “I’ve scored a few goals in the last few weeks and I was delighted to get another on Saturday. Dens is a hard place to go to so it’s a big three points for us.
“We’ve now got four wins in four games now and we haven’t conceded a goal in that run so we have shown we can score goals and get it tight at the same time.”