John McGinn is excited to see Lennon Miller up close in the Scotland camp after following his Motherwell career and is keen to play beside the teenager despite knowing he will eventually aim to take his place.
Steve Clarke has called up the 18-year-old for the Nations League play-off games against Greece as a reward for a string of impressive performances for the Steelmen.
He has been joined by Hearts youngster James Wilson, and McGinn is keen to welcome them into the camp. He recalled his first call-up back in 2016 when he was playing in the Championship with Hibs.
The Aston Villa captain said: “I remember that feeling when I first trained with the first team and feeling the change in tempo.
“It’s good to have them here, they are both doing really well in the league and it’s our job as experienced players to help them feel comfortable, but not too comfortable at the same time.
“We knew it was coming sooner rather than later with Lennon. I watch Motherwell pretty regularly, and Paul (McGinn) always spoke about him highly from a young age.
“He has a good mentality, he is a good teammate, he’s very mature, so I’ve been really keen to play alongside him and see him this week in training.”
Miller made headlines last week when he revealed his intentions to become the best player in the Scotland squad as he looks to cement his place in a strong midfield that includes the likes of McGinn, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson.
McGinn said: “He’s probably thinking – why did I say that? But I said plenty of stupid things when I was coming through at St Mirren.
“But at the same time, they are not here to just make the numbers up.
“They are here to take our places if they, eventually, are better than the ones who are here.
“So, they need to have that confidence to come here and try to get a starting position and become a mainstay in the team for years to come.
“And he definitely has the ability to do that and so does James.”
Some quarters criticised Gordon Strachan for calling up McGinn for his nine years ago because he played in the second tier.
The 30-year-old revealed that didn’t help him and things went from bad to worse after a first training session that left him feeling like he wasn’t good enough for that level.
However, things changed quickly for McGinn who has gone from strength to strength with the national side and is now a key player.
He is now set to win his 74th and 75th caps against Greece this week.
Speaking on Monday, he said: “Charlie Adam did an interview on my first day from Stoke’s training ground asking why Scottish Championship players were getting called up, which wasn’t too helpful at the time.
“I don’t think he was aiming it at me individually or personally. Just the timing of it was a bit of a disaster as I was already a bit nervous and star struck. So, at my first lunch at Mar Hall, all the experienced boys were getting right on me, like, ‘you shouldn’t be in the squad’.
“My session 30 minutes later wasn’t great. It was nerve-wracking. Shaun Maloney made me feel that small, turning me inside out, and I remember going back to my room and thinking to myself: ‘I can’t compete at this level; they were too good.’
“But, as the sessions go on, as you get more experience, you get more comfortable and you start to express yourself more.
“I will always be grateful to Gordon Strachan for giving me that opportunity and he flung me right in for my debut that week,” he said.
“There was a lot of pressure on me and I felt it a little bit, but I remember that first game next to Broony (Scott Brown).
“You get little nuggets of wisdom during the game, support before the game, and you start to feel at home.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
