Wednesday 20 February 2019 16:41, UK
Alex McLeish is trying to convince Birmingham’s Che Adams to play for Scotland in what could become a tug of war between countries north and south of the border.
The former England U20s striker has scored 19 goals in 34 starts for the Championship side this season but is yet to commit his international future to any country.
The 22-year-old was born in Leicester to an Antiguan father and has Scottish grandparents so could play for Antigua and Barbuda, England or Scotland.
"We think we can enhance his career and it will be up to him now," said the Scotland boss.
"We have looked at Che, we've looked at a lot of potential guys who have been in recent squads, we are a small nation and leave no stone unturned.
"He has had a good season, we have charted his progress, he was looked at at U21 level, so we will keep that one open."
Adams was contacted about playing for Scotland's U21s two years ago having turned out for England's U20s in two matches in 2015 but has not featured in any squad since.
There are echoes of West Ham's Declan Rice, who recently chose to play international football for England after appearing in friendlies for the Republic of Ireland.
McLeish, who managed Birmingham between 2007 and 2011, is hoping he can beat England to the punch for Adams, who attracted interest from Burnley in the January transfer window and, having scored eight goals for Birmingham since January 1, has caught the attention of Scotland as well.
McLeish added: "Che has been in good form. At the moment he wants to keep himself playing at club level. We will leave it up to him just now and keep monitoring the situation.
"We have had amicable discussions with his representatives but I have not spoken to Che personally, but we have noticed the form he's been in and we should find out what his thoughts are on this in the next few months or so."
Adams joined Birmingham from Sheffield United for £2m in August 2016 and has helped Garry Monk's team to ninth in the table this season.
Scotland begin their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 in Kazakhstan on Thursday March 21, live on Sky Sports.
