Ross County teenager Dylan Smith optimistic fellow Staggies youngsters can follow him from Dingwall to the international stage after Scotland under-21 debut
Dylan Smith has backed his fellow Ross County academy graduates to follow him into international youth football sooner rather than later.
The 18-year-old received his first call-up to Scotland’s under-21 squad in the recent international break, coming off the substitutes’ bench in both of their matches.
That follows appearances for the national under-17 and under-19 squads, the latter of which he captained on multiple occasions.
Having broken into the senior Staggies’ squad as just one of a group of talented youngsters, though, he could see others following him on to the international scene – even if one of his teammates may need a bit of convincing to pull on the blue of Scotland.
“We've seen George Robesten get on the pitch a couple of times now and he's done very well,” Smith reasoned.
“If I'm honest, I maybe thought he might have been called up to the under-21s.
“There's a bit of uncertainty with his nation, isn't there? He says he's English, he says he's part-African. I think he's Scottish, so I don't really know.
“He's performing enough in the Premiership that I reckon he could get a call-up soon. I'm trying to persuade him!”
For his own part, it was a valuable experience with Scotland’s under-21s last month for Smith, and he could see the next level that he will need to hit to feature for the side regularly in the coming years.
That being said, this call came as something of a surprise to him, with the former Culloden Academy pupil believing that he was most likely to figure into plans with the under-19s again.
“Since I hadn't played for a few months, I thought maybe I'd be in the under-19s again,” he explained.
“When I saw I wasn't, I was a bit disappointed. There was a glimmer of hope, but it was a nice surprise, if I'm honest, to be called up to the under-21s.
“As a child, everyone wants to play for their national team. Going through the youth stages has helped a lot with my confidence, and coming back to County it gives me that extra boost that I can play at this level.
“Most of the boys in the under-21s are playing at a good level. There are some starting in the Championship and starting, the odd few that are coming off the bench in the Premiership, and obviously some in academies in England as well.
“It's a really good standard and I'm really enjoying the competitive feel of the under-21s.”
Smith’s next challenge with Ross County will be the visit of Aberdeen to Dingwall this weekend, but getting on to the pitch for that match could be easier said than done.
The Staggies’ have had a fairly settled backline in recent weeks, with Akil Wright and George Harmon seeing to nail down the wing back slots either side of Eli Campbell, Kacper Lopata and Jonathan Tomkinson.
All Smith can do in the meantime is work as hard as he can to impress, and take any opportunity he gets whether it comes in front of what will be an electric atmosphere against the Dons or not.
“I've got a couple of my family that are Aberdeen fans and a couple that are County fans,” Smith added.
“Maybe there's a bit of a derby feeling there, but obviously we'll be concentrating on just trying to get three points out of that game.
“Personally, I'm just trying to do as much as I can on the training pitch. Doing extras, coming in earlier and leaving last – that's all I can really do, and if I get that chance on the pitch then I've got to take it.
"When I was younger, we had a lot of injuries to the centre-halves. There wasn't really that competition, and then when players came back I felt I dealt with that and still got in the team sometimes.
“Now, I’m coming back off a loan spell and there are three or four centre-halves. They're all playing outstandingly well – one has been moved to right wing back – and it’s hard to break into the team.
“They're all top players. If the chance falls to me, I'll be ready to take it.