St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson was on club duty as the next generation of Scotland stars played Northern Ireland off the park in Dublin in midweek.
As the likes of James McArthur, Chris Maguire and Robert Snodgrass made their senior debuts for their country in the Carling Nations clash that was comfortably won 3-0, Davidson was grabbing a goal to help the Perth men into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals by beating Partick Thistle.
Davidson was called into Craig Levein’s squad for the Faroe Islands friendly in Aberdeen only to be left on the bench but, had he not been needed by the Perth men in midweek, there is every chance he would have made it on to the Aviva Stadium turf.
However, he is happy to bide his time. The 21-year-old, who will play a key role at McDiarmid Park again when Aberdeen visit on league duty, said, “There’s no way I was jealous of the other lads.
“I had a big game for St Johnstone, and being part of the squad for Dublin wasn’t on my mind. I knew we had a big cup game and Saints have to be the priority.
“I know Snoddy (Snodgrass) well from Livingston and congratulated him when I heard he had made his debut in Dublin,” he went on.
“It was a great experience being part of the Scotland squad for the Faroes match, training with guys like Darren Fletcher, Charlie Adam and Craig Gordon.
“At the time I was disappointed not to get a run-out from the bench when so many subs were used but the day. I regarded it as a positive step forward in my career and I hope I can get another chance.”
Davidson is still eligible for the Scotland under-21 side but revealed he won’t be part of the next phase of boss Billy Stark’s plan.
“The manager is preparing for the next qualifiers so he called me and a few of the older lads to thank us and explain the situation,” said Davidson. “I totally understand where he is coming from.”
The Saints midfielder was delighted to grab a goal in the 2-0 win over the Jags, which set up Saints for a quarter-final at Glebe Park to face Brechin.
“I know I should be scoring more goals and I have been working hard on that side of my game,” he said.
“That was my third of the season and last year I got five in all competitions. I firmly believe that if I keep getting into the right positions the goals will come.”
Major boostWith Aberdeen a side in Saints’ “section” of the league table, a win will give them a major boost in the race to reach the top six.
“We haven’t set any specific targets,” said Davidson.
“The top six has to be a realistic goal if we are still there moving closer to the split, but we really do have to take it game by game. We aren’t good enough to start looking three or four games down the line.”
A 1-0 November win at Pittodrie kick-started Saints’ season but Davidson warned, “This will be a different game completely.
“That started off a good run for us, even if it was down to an own goal, but since then Craig Brown and Archie Knox have come in and are doing a great job at Aberdeen. I expect a tight match.”
Saints boss Derek McInnes could be tempted to freshen-up his side, although there is a free midweek looming to give players a chance to recharge the batteries.
Cup-tied loan signing from Hearts, Arvydas Novikovas, rejoins the squad.
Dons boss Brown was on a spying mission at Perth in midweek and was impressed by the Saints.
While Roy Hodgson was appointed West Bromwich Albion manager yesterday, Brown wasn’t surprised to hear McInnes being linked with that job recently.
“I was not at all taken aback to hear Derek McInnes being linked with a job in England as he is an outstanding young manager,” said Brown.
“When you hear Geoff Brown, who is a hard man to please, say that he is the best manager that he has had then you appreciate that.
“You just need to see the great managers he has had there in the past to see that is very high praise indeed. The likes of Billy Stark and Paul Sturrock were there and, of course, Owen Coyle,” he said.
“In fact, the best performance I saw from any team in our division last year was when St Johnstone beat Hibs 5-1 as they played really well.
“I was at their Scottish Cup tie in midweek and it was a very solid display as they weren’t in any danger against a Partick Thistle side who had been going well.”
Rob Milsom misses out for Aberdeen after severing an artery in his ankle against Dunfermline, and Andrew Considine starts a two-match ban today after being sent off against Celtic.
David McNamee is back after a groin strain, Nick Blackman has recovered from the injury that forced the striker off in the first half against the Pars, and Sone Aluko returns for the first time |in a month.