Blues striker George Hirst says sees Scotland’s June friendlies as massive opportunity for him to cement a place in Steve Clarke’s squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers which get under way in September.
Hirst won his first two caps as a sub in the Nations League play-offs against Greece in March having switch allegiance from England, with whom he played at U17, U18, U19 and U20 levels.
With Lyndon Dykes absent from the squad for the friendlies at home to Iceland on June 6th and in Liechtenstein three days later, Hirst will be one of a number of strikers looking to make an impression. Scotland will face Denmark, the Greeks once again and Belarus for a place at the 2026 finals.
"It’s a massive opportunity. For me fixtures don’t come much sexier, to be honest,” he told the Daily Record.
"It’s an amazing thing for me to be in the Scotland group. It probably still hasn’t sunk in yet.
"It’s a new experience and for me it’s about using these two games, however many minutes I get, whether it’s 180 or just five then I can use them all to become a better player and try to impress.
"I want to lock a place down in the squad with World Cup qualifiers coming up soon. It’s an opportunity for me to stake my claim and grab the bull by the horns.
"People might look at it and say they’re not the sexiest of games but I’m really looking forward to it. It was nice to get a taster of it in March. That's made me hungry to get more.”
Hirst says his father David, who won caps with England during his playing days, saw his two games in March
"Of course he watched it. He had all his mates at the pub and he pulled rank on the TV and said ‘now we're putting the Scotland game on’,” the 26-year-old said.
"It's his local. He's been going to it for the best part of 20 years but it might be longer. He's pretty well known in there. He pulled rank and they had the game on in the end.
"He was just extremely proud of me and gave me a massive pat on the back and said well done.
"More for all the hard work I'd put in over the years prior to get myself in a position where playing for Scotland against Greece in March was attainable.
"I had a header when I came on in the second game that he said I should have done a hell of a lot better with. As soon as I missed it I knew he was going to say that!
"He was absolutely thrilled for me and just hoping, like myself, that I get more minutes.”
Reflecting on Town’s Premier League campaign in which he has scored five times in all competitions and has impressed despite fleeting opportunities due to Liam Delap’s form and a couple of injuries, he added: "It’s been massive. I think back to the player that I was when I signed for Ipswich almost two and a half years ago, back in League One. That is a very different player to what you see here now.
"I'm 26 and I feel like I've finally found how my body works at 6ft 4in. There are times where it can feel a little bit gangly when you're growing up.
"I feel like I'm in a spot now where, with the help of the gaffer, all the things I've learned throughout the last 12 months can definitely help me going forward.”
Hirst is well aware that he will go down as the last male opposition player to score a goal at Goodison Park having claimed Town’s equaliser in the recent 2-2 draw between the clubs.
"Someone actually mentioned it to me straight after we played Everton,” he recalled. "It was one of the lads on the coach. We realised that it was the second last game at Goodison and I might be the last person to score there. I just had both fingers crossed that no one from Southampton scored last weekend!
"In 10 years’ time it’ll be a pretty cool quiz question that I'm sure nobody will know the answer to. I thought it was a pretty cool thing to have against your name. A proud moment.
"You think of old school English football and I'm sure Goodison is one of those grounds that pops into pretty much everybody's heads in the Premier League. It was nice to do it at a stadium like that with all the history.”