Peter Pawlett believes Zander Clark’s heroic display against Dundee United should earn the St Johnstone keeper a Scotland recall.
Pawlett was denied three times by Clark as Saints survived a second half onslaught to claim their first Tannadice win since 2015.
Clark earned his maiden Scotland call-up for the triple header with Denmark, Moldova and Austria.
But he was left out by Steve Clarke for the games with Israel and Faroe Islands, with Rangers keeper Jon McLaughlin and Liam Kelly as understudy to Craig Gordon.
Clarke is now set to name his squad for the crucial World Cup double header with Moldova and Denmark.
And Pawlett believes the Perth star’s 90 minute goalkeeping masterclass should be enough to merit a place.
“Zander Clark was unbelievable and some of the saves he made were special,” said Pawlett.
“It was three or four point blank saves he made.
“I came on at half time and fell like I could have scored a hat-trick and I feel a bit hard done by.
Zander Clark v Dundee United pic.twitter.com/n6e0IrsXCB
— St. Johnstone FC News ★★ (@sjfcnews) October 31, 2021
“When I was on loan at St Johnstone, Zander was just a young lad but he always had that ability.
“Now he’s showing it. He deserves his chance in the Scotland squad and I am sure on that performance alone he’ll be back in the next one.”
Team-mate Ryan Edwards, who had two point-blank headers saved by Clark echoed Pawlett’s sentiment.
“I went to congratulate Clark at the end,” said Edwards.
“You don’t normally do that when you lose a game but sometimes you have to take your hat off to opponents.
“I just told him it was an outstanding performance.
“I don’t know how many clear cut chances we had in the game but he stopped everything that was thrown at him.
“He kept me out twice, Peter out twice, Nicky Clark. The list goes on. He had a great game.”
Peter Pawlett: We’ll be ready for Hearts after Zander Clark heroics
Meanwhile, Pawlett insists United’s first defeat in two months was ‘just a blip.’
United are still joint third with Hearts and they face the Edinburgh side at Tynecastle next weekend.
“We have had a good start to the season and this is just a blip,” said Pawlett.
“Sometimes football is cruel and we will look forward to next week.
“I saw they (Hearts) lost. It will be a good game next week and I am looking forward to it.
“I’ve not been there since the new stand opened. It should be a good encounter.”
