Rory MacLeod hopes Dundee United’s Tangerine teens can take the European Under-17 Championship by storm with Scotland.
And the precocious forward reckons United’s trio of call-ups is testament to the work being done by the academy team at Tannadice.
MacLeod, Craig Moore and Lewis O’Donnell have all been named in Brian McLaughlin’s 21-strong squad for the showpiece in Israel.
No other club have more players selected in the group than United, albeit Celtic and Rangers also have three youngsters involved.
MacLeod and Moore, both only 16 years of age, have already made their senior bows for the Terrors.
O’Donnell has been in several United match-day squads but is yet to be afforded minutes on the pitch.
“It’s always good when you have a manager [Tam Courts] who believes in young people,” MacLeod told Courier Sport. “He has given us a chance.
“Academy players have been trusted all season to go out there and do a shift for the club — and I’ll take that confidence into Scotland duty.
“It’s a great boost to have Lewis [O’Donnell] and Craig [Moore] there too. That’s a compliment to what’s happening at United.
“We can bounce off each other — we all know each other so well, and we know each others’ games — so you feel a bit more comfortable.
“But I’m also close with the other boys in the squad and hopefully we can do well over in Israel.”
A brilliant platform
Nevertheless, an onerous challenge awaits, particularly given the absence of Liverpool wonderkid Ben Doak, considered the jewel in the crown of this age group.
In Group D of the youth showpiece, Scotland begin their campaign with a mouth-watering test against Portugal — considered one of the favourites to take the crown — this evening (May 17, 6pm).
They face Denmark in Ramat Gan on May 20 before a clash with Sweden in Lod on May 23.
Scotland’s games will be broadcast on the BBC website and iPlayer service.
“Personally, playing against Celtic was the perfect-confidence booster for going away,” continued MacLeod, who struck the post in last week’s 1-1 draw against the Hoops.
“To go up against players of that calibre just pushes me into games against Portugal, Sweden and Denmark.
“They are big games against really talented opponents — but I’m feeling full of belief.
“This tournament is a brilliant platform for all of the boys in the squad; going up against some of the top players in the world from our age group.
“We’ll try to do ourselves justice.”
