Man Utd Starlet Scott McTominay Reveals the Lengths Scotland Went to Steal Him From England's Grasp

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay is ready to try and fulfil a 'lifelong dream' as he waits for his senior debut for Scotland this week and has been

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay is ready to try and fulfil a 'lifelong dream' as he waits for his senior debut for Scotland this week and has been backed for success at international level by Old Trafford legend and fellow Scot Brian McClair.

McTominay, who was born in England but has a Scottish father, opted to represent Scotland after meeting with manager Alex McLeish and stands to feature in upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica in Edinburgh and Hungary in Budapest.

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And the 'incredibly proud' 21-year-old said it wasn't a difficult decision.

"I have to thank the boss, Alex McLeish, for giving me an opportunity to come with the squad and hopefully show people what I can do," McTominay told the Scottish FA's website.

"My dad is obviously tremendously proud, as all my family are. It's a tremendous honour to come away with the Scotland national team. It's what you work for your whole life, to improve, do well and hopefully help the team. I'm really pleased.

"The manager travelled a long way to speak to me and I have to thank him for that. The conversation we had was relatively simple. I wanted to play for Scotland - and I always have done, since I was a young boy, so it was an incredibly proud moment when he did call me up."

(You may also be interested in 'Jose Mourinho Backs Scott McTominay to Shine Despite 'Bad' Brighton Performance')

It won't be the sole reason, but it's now been said a few times how Alex McLeish travelled a long way during the very bad weather earlier this month to speak to Scott McTominay in person about choosing #Scotland.

Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate sent a text on behalf of #England.

— Jamie Spencer (@jamiespencer155) March 21, 2018

Ex-United player McClair, who headed the club's academy for nine years between 2006 and 2015 while McTominay was rising through the ranks, has high hopes for the youngster.

"If he continues to do what he's doing for Manchester United, if he keeps playing well, pleasing the manager that he's got, he'll do well," McClair told BBC Scotland.

"Alex McLeish made a huge effort getting to [Manchester United's training ground] Carrington to meet up with him, because it was in the middle of the bad weather that we had. He made it, put a case, [England manager] Gareth Southgate sent him a text.

"He's an intelligent boy, he's mature, he's determined and we knew he was a good player, so he just needed people to have the faith in him to wait for him to develop into the athlete he is now."