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00:00Let's talk now about the Scotland squad
00:01because we've got quite a lot to get through here, actually.
00:04I was on a podcast with our colleague, Louis Anderson,
00:07yesterday, who was at the Scotland squad announcement
00:10today, and we were talking about potential strikers.
00:14And James Wilson's name did not enter that conversation.
00:19Any Hearts fan, and I've been hugely impressed with him,
00:21and I think most everyone across Scottish football has.
00:24But seeing him named in the senior Scotland squad
00:27has really come as a huge surprise.
00:29I can't think there's going to be a single person out there
00:32that saw this coming, especially considering,
00:34as we were saying before we started recording the pod,
00:36he's completely skipped the under 21 stage.
00:41I imagine he will, after these games,
00:44potentially, you know, once Lyndon Dykes is
00:46fit in the club, he might go back to the under 21s
00:49and start playing some football there.
00:51But yeah, just what a brilliant opportunity for him
00:54now being named in that squad.
00:56Yeah, the impact he's made at Hearts this season
01:00has probably taken a lot of people aback.
01:02I mean, his goals return is decent, obviously,
01:05for a young kid, and it was his first real season
01:07in the first team.
01:09But it's more about his overall maturity.
01:11If you watch how he plays, how he communicates
01:13with his teammates, his movement off the ball,
01:15his instincts, he's a very intelligent player,
01:18both on and off the pitch.
01:20If you speak to him, it's not like speaking to a normal,
01:22he's now 18.
01:23I first interviewed him when he was 16,
01:24after his debut at Spartans in the Scottish Cup,
01:26and it was honestly like interviewing
01:28a 30-year-old man, you know, who'd played 12, 13 years
01:33at the top level, and he just, he was nothing
01:36like what I expected.
01:38I mean, credit to Steve Clarke here.
01:40He's put James Wilson in and Lennon Miller, both 18.
01:44Clearly, these types of players are the future
01:46of the national team, so he's getting them in early
01:48and giving them a taste of what it's like.
01:50Will they play in this Greece playoff?
01:52I would be surprised if any of them get any minutes,
01:54and that's not, I don't say that disparagingly,
01:57because they're both terrific prospects,
02:00and they will become Scotland,
02:01full Scotland internationals at the time.
02:03But Steve Clarke's ploy, if you look at previous new faces
02:06that he's called up, both young players
02:08and more experienced ones, they tend to join the squad,
02:11and in their first camp, they just observe.
02:15They train, obviously, and then they may be on the bench,
02:17but they tend not to actually play any minutes.
02:19But still, what an achievement, you know, 18,
02:22two of them in the Scotland squad,
02:24thoroughly deserved, Miller's been terrific for Motherwell
02:27for a long time now, even back to last season,
02:29and he was excellent.
02:31James Wilson's come into the Hearts team this season
02:33and started a good number of games for a 17-year-old.
02:38He recently turned 18 there last week,
02:39so he'll be buzzing with this,
02:43what an achievement for him, still at school.
02:45So, you know, you turn up to school,
02:47you say to your teachers,
02:49yeah, I'm sorry, I can't make this lesson,
02:51I'm actually away with the Scotland squad next week,
02:52what a great position to be in for him.