Josh McPake is hoping to win his second Scotland cap when the national side host North Macedonia on Friday night. The Hearts winger's journey from football's no man's land has impressed former Scotland boss Craig Levein, who believes McPake and captain Andy Robertson are inspiring the next generation of players.
Robertson will go level with Sir Kenny Dalglish's record of 102 appearances for the national side on Friday. McPake, 25, is just starting his international collection after being called into the squad by new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli.
A Journey From League One to the National Set-Up
Levein brought McPake to St Johnstone after spotting him playing for Stirling Albion in League One. The attacker had been released by Rangers and seen various trials fail to come off. Levein could see the talent but suspected McPake had lost his way and grabbed the chance to set him on a new path.
McPake has not looked back since, securing a move to Hearts and now earning a place in the national set-up. Levein reckons his tale is every bit as impressive as Robertson's, who was famously released by Celtic before rebuilding his career at Queen's Park, Dundee United, Hull City and Liverpool.
A Message for Young Players Who Hit Brick Walls
Levein said: "It's a really interesting story. I say this to everybody: when you look at an international team and you look at the players, they've all got different stories about how they got to that point.
"Andy Robertson, when you look at him. Starts off at Celtic, he gets freed, he goes to Queen's Park, then he goes to Dundee United then he goes to Hull City. Josh is quite interesting.
"Like Andy Robertson, it's actually a really good message for young players who hit the brick wall early on in their career. These guys just kept going."
Overcoming Lost Belief and Finding Form
Levein recalled watching McPake at Stirling Albion before he signed for St Johnstone. He said: "I went to watch him at Stirling Albion before he signed for St Johnstone and I watched a guy who had lost a bit of belief in himself, but he had a lot of strengths that, because of where he was up here [mentally], he wasn't really been being able to perform to that level.
"His touch was excellent. You go and watch him at the game at Stirling Albion, no disrespect to them, but you're watching a guy there who's on that front, he's streaks ahead, but also he's got good pace, he's strong. The problem was up here.
"I don't blame the boy because what he'd gone through, it didn't seem as if he was making any progress. I'm honestly thrilled that he's got himself into a place where I think now in his headspace, he's in a very positive frame of mind."
Turning It Around at Hearts
Levein has been blown away by McPake's rise. He said: "Once players start to flourish and improve, you don't know whether they're going to stop. If you'd said to me, if I'm standing at a game at Stirling Albion, watching Josh, that he's going to be a Hearts player, a Scotland player, in three years' time I'd be like, I'm not sure about that.
"So all credit to him. I haven't spoken to him about it, but I've seen this situation quite a lot of times.
"He's obviously been lauded at Rangers as being one of the next regulars in the first team. It didn't quite work. He got to the edge of that and didn't quite manage to step up. Then he's gone down south, then he's moved again.
"He's probably felt that he's not been valued. Part of that would be probably because he's in a space up here that he's not freed himself and allowed him just to go and play, which he's been doing at Hearts for the last year or so. I'm delighted for him. He's stuck in there and he's turned it around."
New Boss Pocognoli Under Scrutiny
McPake is trying to make an impression on Pocognoli, but the new boss is also out to win over the public. It was a bumpy start for the Belgian with some positive signs in some games and alarm bells in others. Levein, who had three tough years as national boss from 2009, is reserving judgement for now.
He said: "It's too early to tell, isn't it? Really, it's too early to tell. At some point, some of these players who are getting on a little bit are going to be getting into the point where they would probably be coming off the bench and then maybe disappearing from the squads altogether.
"Steve Clarke did an unbelievable job in getting Scotland to these tournaments. I do think that he had probably the best squad of players that Scotland had for a long, long time.
"Those two things merged very well, and they did a fantastic job. I don't know much about the new guy at all.
"We'll just have to give the guy time and wait and see what happens."
Craig Levein was speaking at the announcement of William Hill as Official Sponsor and Proper Supporter of Walking Football Scotland.
