Andrew Driver hopes rule change will open the door for him

Published on Monday 31 May 2010 21:40

ANDREW Driver has confirmed that he still wants to play for Scotland, after it emerged that the Scottish Football Association is trying to achieve a further relaxation of the eligibility rules to accommodate the English-born winger.

• Picture: PA

Driver, who has already turned out for the England Under-21 side, has seen his hopes of switching his allegiance to his adopted homeland resurrected by national team coach Craig Levein just months after he was told he did not qualify under a recent rule change.

The SFA assumed the 22-year-old Hearts player would be eligible for Scotland under the new five-year school ruling that was rubber-stamped by the home nations last year. Despite moving north of the border when he was 11, however, the left-sided player fell two months short of the required schooling period.

A dogged Levein now hopes to convince his FA counterparts throughout the rest of Britain to agree to a further reworking of the rules so that he can call up Driver for Scotland. It is not, however, a proposal which has met with universal approval from the Scotland support, with a Tartan Army spokesman stating that Driver has already made his preference clear by playing for England.

Driver endured an injury-plagued campaign last season but aims to get back to his best to boost his international chances. He said: "I was a bit surprised when I first heard about this possible change but I definitely still want to play for Scotland.

"I am not expecting to walk into the team – I have to earn the right and that means I have to be playing well at club level."

Driver hopes that any rule change could also benefit other players in similar positions.

He said: "It is not all about me. Hopefully others could benefit from a change as well."