Alex McLeish has tipped Scott McTominay to have a “massive future” with Scotland after selecting him in his first squad since taking over.
The Lancaster-born Manchester United midfielder is one of six players receiving first call-ups after he pledged his international future to the native country of his Glaswegian father despite an approach from England.
Jose Mourinho has handed the 21-year-old starts in crucial games against Sevilla, Chelsea and Liverpool in recent weeks and McTominay has helped United secure positive results each time.
McLeish said: “I went to see him against Crystal Palace and Jose took him off at half-time and maybe people would jump on the back of that and say, ‘Why are we picking him?’.
“But he had a fantastic game at the weekend against Liverpool, such a mature performance. We believe he has a massive future with Scotland.”
McLeish spoke to Mourinho about McTominay’s international future but the United boss allowed the player to make his own decision.
McTominay is now set to feature as Scotland play friendlies against Costa Rica and Hungary later this month.
“Jose didn’t want to get involved in that side of it, but he was very complimentary about Scott’s performance level, his maturity,” the former Aston Villa and Birmingham manager said.
“He thought if he chose us we would be getting a fantastic acquisition.”
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