Town striker George Hirst says he has taken a lot from being in the Scotland squad and feels the international recognition has made him a better player.

The Blues frontman switched allegiance from England in March and has since earned four caps for the Tartan Army, scoring his first international goal during last month’s friendly victory in Liechtenstein.

Steve Clarke’s side is set to return to competitive action this autumn as Scotland bid to qualify for next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Hirst, who was born in Sheffield but qualifies for Scotland through his grandfather, believes working alongside the likes of Scott McTominay and captain Andy Robertson has been an amazing experience.

“You just have to look at the players in that squad,” he said after scoring north of the border during Town’s pre-season victory at Aberdeen.

“I’d be the most naive man in the world not to try and pick things up from the players there. You’ve got Scotty who has done what he did last season at Napoli, and Billy [Gilmour] there as well and Robbo, the skip.

“To take any little bit I can from all those players and training with those calibre of players is only going to improve me. It’s an opportunity that I relish and I can’t wait to get there.

“It’s definitely helped make me a better player in the short time that I have been there so far.

“You don’t have to worry about what they’re going to do with the ball, you let them crack on and do their thing. As a striker in that position with players of that quality around you, I can almost just find myself getting in the box and waiting for the ball to get to me.

“Playing with that quality of player is something everyone wants to do and I’ve been fortunate enough to do that in training. I’ve only had two camps and there’s still plenty of work to go on on the relationship side of it, building those relationships on and off the pitch.

“That’s something that, if I keep getting picked and keep doing well for Ipswich, then those relationships can only improve.”

For the upcoming qualification campaign, Scotland have been drawn in a four-team group alongside Denmark, Greece and Belarus with all six matches set to be concluded by November.

The opening game with group favourites Denmark is little more than five weeks away, with Hirst insisting full focus has to be on the clash in Copenhagen.

He said: “Any campaign that you’re trying to qualify for a major tournament, the first thing is you can’t be looking too far into the future or anything like that.

“That Denmark game has to be the main focus of everybody whoever gets picked for that squad and I think that will be the case.

“The lads will have the utmost respect for Denmark and ultimately it’s up to us as a nation to go and put them to the sword and kick the campaign off in the right way.

“Then you can go into the next few games with a real level of confidence that you can go and achieve something really special. All eyes are on that Denmark game and no-one's going to be taking it lightly.

“If I’m doing well for Ipswich and playing as much as I want to, I can take that straight through into the international breaks with Scotland.

“Last season it was a little bit harder in the sense that I wasn’t starting as many games as I would have liked, obviously Liam [Delap] was doing amazing and has gone on to get the move [to Chelsea] that he deserves.

“This season is going to be a little bit different, it’s going to help me get a little bit sharper most definitely, hopefully be in amongst the goals a hell of a lot more.

“If I can take that into the Scotland campaign and qualify for the World Cup then brilliant. Hopefully we achieve what we want to achieve.”

The 26-year-old added: “It’s a really important season for myself. It’s a season I want to go and attack right from the first game.

“Last time in the Championship I had a good first half of the season then unfortunately I got injured and I was out for about four months. Hopefully that’s all behind me now, I can kick on and have a really good full season.”

Hirst, whose father David played three times for England during the early 1990s, says a call-up for Scotland had been in the pipeline for a while before he was drafted into the squad earlier this year.

“It’s one of those things where I’d heard whispers that there was a chance I could get called up,” he said. “It didn’t happen and I was fine with that, I was concentrating on Ipswich.

“For me, it was just about not thinking about it until it became a reality. I didn’t want to get bogged down with trying to be something I’m not to get somewhere that I’m not there yet.

“It was very much just stick to what I’m good at - stick to doing my job day in, day out, training, games and whenever I’m on the pitch hoping that would follow with the call-up.

“When that did happen I was ecstatic and it was an opportunity I’ll forever be grateful for. Hopefully it’s the start of plenty more.”

Photo: Ger Harley/Sportpix/Sipa USA

flykickingbybgunn added 11:01 - Jul 28 As you get older, you gain experience and become a better player. You can see he has improved since the last time we were in the Champs. Surging runs like Delap, hold up play, finishing. Looking forward to next season.
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MickMillsTash added 11:35 - Jul 28 Hirst playing for Scotland is similar to when Humphries went on loan to Wycombe. Head and Shoulders the best player amongst a squad of has-beens, crocks and drunkards. Humphries of course enjoyed winning which may be a trickier task for Hirst.
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runningout added 17:19 - Jul 28 Get it although I knew GH was brill… long time before call up :-)
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Linkboy13 added 17:36 - Jul 28 Could be my new glasses but it looks like he's beefed up in the summer.
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