England fail with belated bid to snatch back Matt Phillips

Blackpool winger Phillips, who has represented England at under-19 and under-20 level, was named in the Scotland squad for the first time last week by Craig Levein. The Aylesbury-born player is eligible to play for the Scots through his maternal grandparents, George and Mary Murdoch, who hail from Ayrshire.

A hamstring injury will prevent Phillips from making his Scotland debut in tomorrow night’s friendly against Slovenia in Koper but the 20-year-old joined the squad regardless at their Bishopton base on Sunday to become acquainted with his new compatriots.

Although Fifa regulations will permit Phillips to switch his allegiance back to England until he has played in a competitive senior fixture for Scotland, he insists his decision is irreversible as far as he is concerned.

Phillips says he expressed that sentiment when he received a phone call from Pearce asking him to reconsider and remains angry that the coach had previously overlooked him for England under-21 duty.

“I had a number of conversations with him but I haven’t just made this decision in the past month,” said Phillips. “It’s been an ongoing thing and something that’s always been at the back of my mind that one day I’d play for Scotland.

“On a personal level, I was just fed up being overlooked by England and not getting the recognition I felt I deserved for my performances. So I’m grateful for the opportunity to make myself available for Scotland.

“I spoke to Stuart Pearce personally, because it had to come from me. A lot of people might have sat around and waited [for England]. But I told him I wanted to come away and play for Scotland.

“Unfortunately I’ve had to pull out of the Slovenia game because of a slight niggle in my hamstring but if I’m selected for the next squad, hopefully I can get my first cap then. I just felt I still needed to come up here this weekend, meet the rest of the lads and show I am committed to Scotland.

“People might say I’m only choosing Scotland because I’ve not been picked by England or that I’m not good enough to play for England. But that’s not the case.

“I’ve been gifted to have two countries I could play for and Scotland is the one I’ve chosen.

“I believe enough in my ability to think that one day I would have played for England. But I’m not looking at that now. Even if England asked me to play for their under-21s now, my mind is made up. I fully believe it’s the right decision.”

Phillips, who played for England in last summer’s Fifa under-20 World Cup finals in Colombia, has been in contact with Scotland manager Craig Levein and his chief scout Mike Oliver for more than a year as they have wooed him away from the country of his birth.

The SFA were alerted to Phillips’ eligibility by relatives of the player’s grandparents. Since then, Levein and Oliver have been persistent and persuasive in their bid to get him on board.

“I still have family, uncles and cousins, who live in Ayrshire,” said Phillips. “My grandparents live with my parents in Aylesbury now but they spoke to some of the family up here who passed it on to the SFA that I have Scottish blood in me.

“Things developed from there and I had a good few meetings with the gaffer and Mick. The personal touch from them showed how much they thought of me and how much I was wanted by Scotland. They brought a few gifts down when they last met me, including a Scotland shirt with my name on the back for my grandfather.

“I don’t think he has taken it off since then. He’s absolutely over the moon I’m with Scotland now.

“He has told me loads about the country, the fan base for the national team and things like that. I’m just delighted and excited to get this opportunity.” Phillips has received plenty of encouragement from some of his Blackpool team-mates, including Scotland full-back Stephen Crainey and former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson.

“Barry was very positive about me playing for Scotland,” said Phillips.

“I know he had some issues before he quit the Scotland squad but I’ve never spoken to him about that, it’s nothing to do with me.

“But there were no negative comments from Barry at all about Scotland.”

Phillips is now targeting Scotland’s friendly against the USA in Jacksonville in May for his debut and should be word perfect for the anthems on that occasion, thanks to former Scotland goalkeeper George Wood.

“Big George is the goalkeeping coach at Blackpool,” smiled Phillips, “and he has been singing ‘Flower of Scotland’ to me every day in training since I got called up. So I’m picking it up quickly.”