GUTEN MORGAN

Lewis gets the nod for Germany as Steve assures MLS pal Gauld he never dropped off radar either

- ANDY NEWPORT

LEWIS MORGAN may have been out of sight but he was never out of Steve Clarke's mind.

It has been unfairly assumed over the last couple of years the Scotland boss has opted to treat his MLS hopefuls as if playing Stateside was equivalent to setting up home on the far side of the moon.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, both Morgan and Ryan Gauld have always been on his list of cap contenders. It wasn't geography keeping them out of Clarke's squad but the form of the men in front of them.

While cruel misfortune and rotten timing mean Lyndon Dykes and Ben Doak will now miss out on their Euros adventure, it is Morgan who has been handed the luckiest of breaks after joining Tommy Conway in landing an 11th-hour dream ticket to Germany.

And Clarke has raised the prospect that one day it might just be Gauld who is also recalled from across the pond.

On people thinking he and his team don't watch the MLS, the gaffer said: "It doesn't bother me because I know what we're doing behind the scenes.

"I don't care what anybody else says. I know me and my staff are doing everything we can to take as wide a view across the world, where all the young boys are playing, where they are in my thoughts in terms of pecking order and where they'll fit into the squad.

"The other one who gets mentioned in the MLS quite a lot is Ryan Gauld. Ryan's trying to get in ahead of John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson - injured now - Ryan Christie and Billy Gilmour.