Steve Clarke keeping tabs on 'quality' former Hearts youth prospect knocking on International door
The 23-year old also had spells at Brighton and Northampton Town.
After Steve Clarke’s side were unimpressive in their last few matches, perhaps a shake-up of the squad would improve World Cup qualifying hopes.
Somehow, Scotland currently sit second in their Qualification Group C, behind Denmark on goal difference. But despite being in their best position to qualify for a World Cup since 1998 with two games to go, the performances have been a cause for concern for the Tartan Army. The Scots followed up a smash and grab victory against Greece with a narrow win over group minnows, Belarus earlier this month.
With Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson, the centre of the park has been the area of the pitch Scotland have the most depth in for a number of years now, making it nigh on impossible for anyone to leapfrog them in the pecking order. However, a former Hearts youth prospect now playing in the EFL Championship has entered the conversation for a call-up.
Former Jambo academy product on Clarke’s radar
Steve Clarke is keeping tabs on Birmingham City midfielder, Marc Leonard, after a successful start to the season at St Andrew’s. The former under-21s International, signed for Hearts as a teenager from Rangers, before heading down south to play for Brighton, where he made his senior debut.
The Glasgow-born star helped Birmingham City to promotion last year, in a season in which The Blues broke the record for the most points in an EFL League One campaign. Performance-wise, he’s picked up from where he left off last season and has kept his place in the team despite a plethora of a new signings from the side financially-backed by Tom Brady.
He has represented Scotland at nearly every youth level, however is yet to make the first-team, partly down to the excellence of the players in front of him. Perhaps, in order to get his chance he may need to play in a higher division, however with The Blues sitting 17th in the EFL Championship currently, it looks as if back-to-back promotions is off the cards. That being said, Lyndon Dykes currently plays for Chris Davies’ side and is a regular feature for the National Team.
Blues boss encourages Leonard Scotland call-up
Davies believes it’s only a matter of time before Clarke picks the midfielder. He said: “What I’ve seen of him this season has really impressed me. Physically, he covers the ground. He outruns people. He’s aggressive, good on the ball. He has the quality to play at an international level — it’s something for him to aim at. He needs to stay in his team consistently, and once that happens, they (Scotland) will take notice of what’s going on.”
The comments came after Birmingham’s recent 3-2 defeat to Hull City, where Davies thought the Scotsman was the Man of the Match despite being on the wrong end of the result. Before September 30th, Leonard had only featured once for Davies’ side in the league, however after also impressing in their 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday coming off the bench, he has kept his place in the team.
If Scotland are to reach Canada, America and Mexico, they will need two massive performances against Greece and Denmark next month. While Clarke is notorious for sticking with his senior players, if Leonard’s performances continue, he will no doubt cause a selection headache.