Dundee United playmaker Ryan Gauld has been rewarded for his fine start to the season with his first call-up to the Scotland Under-21 squad.
His inclusion in Billy Stark’s squad for this month’s Uefa European Championship qualifier against Georgia at St Mirren Park caps a memorable week for the 17-year-old, who signed a contract extension at Tannadice on Monday.
Gauld has been in impressive form for both United in the Premiership but also Scotland Under-19s, and Stark believes the time is right for the talented teenager to make the step-up to the Under-21 set-up.
United team-mates Stuart Armstrong and Andrew Robertson have received call-ups, while in-form St Johnstone striker Stevie May who is being tipped for a senior call-up is also in Stark’s 21-player squad.
Stark is pleased to see Gauld continue his development in the first team at United after signing his new contract.
He said: “There are three or four of them who have signed new deals at United and I think that allows them to settle down and continue developing as they have been.
“Dundee United take a lot of credit for that they have given them the opportunity.
“Jackie McNamara is not averse to putting young ones in if they are good enough and they’ve certainly proved they are good enough.”
Gauld has made the step up to the Under-21s having previously featured for the Under-19s and Stark believes he has plenty to offer at a more senior level for the young Scots.
He said: “I’ve seen quite a bit of him. He’s still a young lad but we have some younger ones in the squad. I saw Ryan most recently in the game at Tannadice against St Mirren and he was outstanding that day.
“He was in my thoughts for the last squad and he has just increased that with the performances he has had since then so I’m delighted to have him.
“First of all, he’s a very talented footballer. Allied to that, he’s inventive, creative and has a great appetite to affect the game. For one so young, that’s a bit unusual.
“He has shown a lot of confidence by being given the chance in the first team at Dundee United and he’s grasped that.
“It’s not a case of accommodating a young player that does OK in games; he has actually almost dictated Dundee United’s creative part of the game. He is doing really well for a young one at the moment.”
Scotland are currently level on points with third-placed Georgia in Qualifying Group Three with six points from four games and will be hoping to avenge last month’s 2-1 defeat in Tbilisi when they meet Georgia next week.
Stark added: “We have always set out to qualify and, in the process, blood younger players if we can and we are doing that.
“In terms of qualification, it’s a big game for us. In this competition, in every game you go into, there is not much margin for error. We did target doing better in our home games in terms of wins.
“The last time, we drew with Holland, Austria and Bulgaria. In general, they were pretty good performances, we just didn’t have the edge to get the winning goal.
“In the two home games so far (in this campaign) we have had good performances and we’ve won the games so that augurs well.
“If we can win our home games and take something on the road, it puts us in with a chance.”