CAMBUSLANG KID AMONG SIX QUEEN'S PARK STARLETS HEADING FOR SCOTLAND U15 TRIALS AS THEY SEEK TO FOLLOW IN FOOTSTEPS OF ANDY ROBERTSON AND LAWRENCE SHANKLAND

Cambuslang kid Jamie McCarthy is one of six talented teens from Queen’s Park hoping to take a step towards fulfilling their Scotland dreams after being selected for trials with the national setup.

It is the first time in five years players from the Queen’s Park academy have been selected and centre-back Jamie joins U14 team-mates Jackson Barr (East Kilbride), Cody Crichton (East Kilbride), Joe Lafferty (Mount Florida), Michael Gibson (Newton Mearns) and Charlie Watt (Strathaven) at the U15 trials this week.

The Spiders are celebrating after seeing the sextet invited to train tomorrow, where the players will tackle three sessions with national coaches before those involved are whittled down to a regional pool and then a final national squad, which will form the U15 Scotland team for next season.

Jamie’s proud dad David has told Lanarkshire Live Sport the Cathkin High School pupil is thrilled to be involved, but won’t get carried away.

He said: “Jamie is pretty level-headed about it.

“He is really chuffed but, at the same time, he knows he is up against very good players at these trials.

“I think the way all the boys are looking at it is that they’ve played against all these boys they are up against and they have never let themselves down, so they can go into it with confidence. It doesn’t mean they are going to go on to the next stage of the process, but they don’t need to be overawed, they just need to go and enjoy it.

“This particular age group has beaten Rangers and Celtic, they’ve drawn with Hibs and Hearts who, by all accounts, are the best U14 team in the country, so Queen’s Park has come to people’s attention that there are some decent players in this team.

“To have six selected for the trials, everyone at Queen’s Park is delighted by that.

“Jamie is doing well, but we won’t get too excited about it yet.”

The boys need look no further than ex-Queen’s Park stars Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland as inspiration for where starting out with the Hampden youths can take you.

Both players are preparing to represent Scotland at this summer’s European Championships in Germany, with skipper Robertson a Champions League and English Premier league winner with Liverpool and Shankland a scoring sensation for Hearts.

David added: “I’m always saying to Jamie, there’s Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland who both started there. So that’s two of the current Scotland squad who started at Queen’s Park and those guys are inspirational for these boys.

“It shows it can be achieved.

“Jamie would love to be a professional and that’s what he wants to do, but he knows there is a million miles to go before that.

“He likes to think he models himself on [Liverpool star] Virgil van Dijk, but he’s got a wee while to go and a bit of growing to do!”

Queen’s Park as a club are over the moon to see all six make the squad and believe it shows the fruits of their recent academy restructure.

Academy director Tommy McIntyre, formerly academy chief at Celtic, said: “This is the beginning of recognition for the academy at Queen’s Park Football Club since it was restructured and hopefully many more opportunities will come.

“It is recognition for not only the players but their teammates, coaching staff and support staff within the academy.

“It highlights the progress and recognises the strides that we are taking to develop not only the player but the person within the academy.

“Talent is nothing without opportunity and it will be an honour and a great experience for our players to represent our club within this elite peer group environment. We wish them the very best of luck.”

U15s coach Ryan McSherry revealed the players were unaware they were being scouted and hopes they can seize their chance to make the squad.

He said: “This is the first year of a new approach which is seeing players selected for trials now as opposed to when their under-15 season starts.

“We did not know when scouts were coming to our games, and neither did the players, so it shows everyone the value of playing well in every game as you never know who is watching.

“It is also motivational, especially for the players younger than under-14 as it shows them what is possible.

“The Queen’s Park Academy is back in the national conversation after a few years and our players are knocking on the door again.

“Everyone at the academy is proud of them for being selected and hopefully they will go on to make the full squad.”

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2024-03-28T06:09:07Z dg43tfdfdgfd