'Caught my eye' - What Hibs striker can offer Scotland squad as Steve Clarke raves about star's attributes

Steve Clarke insists Hibs striker Kieron Bowie is a player that has been on his international radar for some time - admitting now is the ideal time to take a closer look at what he can offer the national team going forward.

The 22-year-old is one of SEVEN uncapped players in the squad for friendly matches against Iceland and Liechtenstein in June along with Josh Doig, Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller and goalkeeping duo Robby McCrorie and Cieran Slicker. However, he is the only player not to have been previously named in a senior squad. having featured ten times at Under-21 level.

And Clarke, who watched on from the stands at Easter Road on Sunday as Bowie started and scored against Rangers in a 2-2 draw, confessed he has been really impressed by Bowie’s attributes after catching his eye in recent years.

“Kieron is one I have always had my eye on,” Clarke admitted after naming his 25-man squad for next month’s double-header. “I speak to Scot (Gemmill) almost every month. We each have a catch-up. He runs through who he's got in the (21s) squad, who he sees as the new ones emerging.

“In that team at that time, Ben Doak was the one that was catching the headlines. But Scot was always quite strong on the fact that Kieron was doing a good job for the team. Any time I watched the under-21s, Kieron was the one that stood out and caught my eye. And not always as a striker, sometimes playing off the left. He was a big physical, strong left winger, has good attributes to his game.

“ I know what Lawrence Shankland and Kevin Nisbet can bring to the squad and can give to the team. I just want to have a look at something a little bit different. These games are a chance for us to have a look at one or two.”

Clarke has also recalled former Hibs full-back Doig fresh off the back of clinching promotion back to Italy’s top-flight with US Sassuolo. He reckons the experience Doig has been gaining on the continent will stand him in good stead as he looks to win his first cap.

“Josh has had a really good season,” Clarke added. “He has got promotion back to Serie A and that is where he wants to be. He has been in my squads before. He understands his position behind Andy (Robertson) and Kieran (Tierney), but it will be nice to see him again.

“He’s experiencing a different culture. It is not just about experiencing different football and playing for different clubs. It is just the lifestyle experience. I think it is great we’ve got players doing it. It can only make them better players and better people.

“You’re always hoping for players to give you food for thought. You want competition in training. That is sometimes why you bring in some of the youngers boys. Then the older boys are suddenly looking over their shoulder thinking, ‘Aye, aye, he’s thinking of doing something different’. That is what we want. We want competition for places, I always want to have a difficult selection.”

There’s no place Hearts pair and squad regulars Craig Gordon and Lawrence Shankland on this occasion, but 18-year-old James Wilson retain his place after climbing off the bench to make his senior debut late on in the 3-0 UEFA Nations League play-off second leg defeat to Greece in March.

Iceland will visit Hampden Park on Friday, June 6 before the Scots travel to Vaduz to take on Liechtenstein on Monday, June 9 with both games scheduled to be broadcast live on BBC Scotland.

Scotland have won all six of their previous meetings with the Icelandics, now ranked 74th in the world. They boast two wins out of two against minnows Liechtenstein, with both matches settled by a one-goal margin.

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