Steve Clarke has announced his Scotland squad for the upcoming games against Greece – with Lennon Miller of Motherwell handed his first call-up.
The national team travel to Athens for the first leg of the Nations League play-off game next Thursday before the return game at Hampden three days later.
Motherwell’s 18-year-old star Miller is handed his first call-up to the national team.
Meanwhile James Wilson, who just turned 18, has five goals in the Scottish Premiership for Hearts and makes the squad for the first time.
Ben Doak, Lyndon Dykes, and Aaron Hickey have all been ruled out, but Kieran Tierney has returned for the first time since Euro 2024.
STV NewsThe Arsenal defender, who will re-join Celtic in the summer, hasn’t played for Scotland since the draw with Switzerland in Germany last summer.
Lewis Ferguson is involved again after making his return to action for Bologna following a long spell out with an ACL injury.
Goalkeeper Cieran Slicker of Ipswich also comes in alongside the likes of Max Johnston from Sturm Graz and Tommy Conway from Middlesbrough.
Clarke said: “Obviously a lot of injuries, especially in middle to forward areas, I just felt it was a chance to have a look at two young boys who have caught the eye, Lennon certainly over the last 18 months and James over the last six months. Two for the future, but also can help us just now.
“I’ve obviously had more chance to watch Lennon. He plays with maturity beyond his years. He captains his club, which is a big thing at such a young age. Good qualities, can play deep in midfield, can play higher in midfield. Good delivery, box to box, good energy.
“I’m sure he’s got a big, big future in front of him. It’s our job to look after him and try and bring him along. Hopefully this will be the start of it.
“It’s similar with James. He’s someone who catches your eye, runs behind, looks to score goals, which is a great trait. We’re always looking for goalscorers. He’s got a few in the Premiership this year.
“I actually brought him into one of the camps last year. We were short a couple of bodies and brought a couple of young boys into the camp. James was one of them and he caught our eye just in a short training session.
“He’s playing week in, week out. He’s got good pace about him, good enthusiasm. Another one that I think can have a big future, but for now is to come into the squad and see how he measures up.”
Clarke has previously handed debuts to Nathan Patterson, Billy Gilmour, Aaron Hickey and Ben Doak during their teenage years.
“When I first came into the job, I looked at the squad we had and I felt they were quite inexperienced,” he said.
“I wanted to try and give them caps and make them more seasoned international players and we’ve done that.
“Now you get to a stage where I’ve been in, coming up six years in the job. It feels longer than that. You have to cast your eye to the future as well because some of these players, by natural wastage, won’t be available for the next campaigns afterwards. You have to start looking at who you can bring through.”
The winner of the tie will take part in League A of the 2026 Nations League, while the losers will be in the second tier.
Scotland finished second bottom of their four-team group that included Portugal, Croatia, and Poland, last year.
Meanwhile, Greece finished second to England in Group B2 on goal difference after winning five and losing just one of their six games.
Scotland have only played Greece twice, with both games coming during the Euro 96 qualifying campaign.
Ally McCoist scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Hampden that was enough to secure a place in the finals played in England the following summer.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
