Zander Clark will be gutted that he hasn’t made the latest Scotland squad.
His name had been mentioned for a long time before he got his first call-up for the last camp.
And now, after playing well with St Johnstone since then, he finds himself back on the outside looking in.
I’ve said it before in this column – Liam Kelly is a promising goalkeeper but Zander is ahead of him for me.
There’s not much between them in terms of shot-stopping and the rest of it but Zander has a bigger presence, which is a huge thing for a goalie.
And I’m not sure that Jon McLaughlin has been performing better than Zander either, even though he’s getting more game-time at Ibrox than last season.
Callum Davidson is spot on though – once the initial disappointment has passed, Zander will get his head down and I’m sure he’ll get another chance.
I can remember myself and Alan Main being in and out of squads for a while and being on the fringes when Neil Sullivan and Jonathan Gould were the main two.
But nothing stays the same forever.
Look at what has happened with David Marshall.
It just feels like yesterday he was playing in the Euro finals and now he’s not in the squad.
He’ll back himself to be recalled and so should Zander.
In international football the picture can change in a heartbeat.
Talk about changing in a heartbeat – that’s what James McPake will be hoping for as far as his strikers are concerned.
It’s still very early in the season but it’s worrying that the goals still aren’t coming for Dundee.
I’m convinced that Leigh Griffiths will be the one to score them.
There’s the stuff in the background involving the flare at Dens in the cup game against St Johnstone that I’m not going to get into but as far as the football is concerned, Sparky will come good.
The biggest issue is getting the service to him.
I noticed James McPake tweaked his formation at the back for the Rangers match and I wonder if he’ll look to mix things up in attack as well.
Obviously, I haven’t seen how all the players are training but a partnership of Griffiths and Cillian Sheridan would be one I’d be giving a decent chance.
It was about this time last year that I wrote in the column that Finlay Robertson should have been loaned out by Dundee.
Charlie Adam had been signed and James had loads of options in central midfield.
He still does.
It’s a real area of strength for my old club.
I wouldn’t say a year has been wasted because he’ll have picked up plenty from training with the likes of Charlie but I’m really pleased that Finlay has been farmed out to Cove Rangers.
You can’t beat competitive game-time for a young player.
Finlay Robertson has joined Cove Rangers on loan until January #thedee https://t.co/PT6RqHvjYY
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) September 24, 2021
Look at the loans that have worked over the last few years – Ali McCann to Stranraer being a prime example.
Finlay is still only 18 and he’s a very talented player.
Paul Hartley has got a good set-up at Cove and I’m expecting him to come back to Dundee a more rounded footballer, maybe even ready to step-up to the Premiership.
